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Robert Krikorian of Harvard Speaks on Intellectual Crisis in Armenia at NAASR

By Marc A. Mamigonian

BELMONT, MA - Author and Harvard University doctoral candidate Robert O. Krikorian of Watertown spoke on the "Crisis in Armenia: Intellectuals and the State" on November 2 at the Center and Headquarters of the National Association for Armenian Studies and Research (NAASR) here.

Krikorian is not only the co-author, with Joseph R. Masih, of Armenia at the Crossroads, one of the few histories of Armenia since independence, and a scholar of Armenian history and politics but also has extensive firsthand experience working with scholars and development and relief organizations in Armenia. He is at present coordinator of the Russian and East European History Workshop at Harvard University. Krikorian has written extensively on Armenian history and politics and the Caspian region and is currently completing his doctoral work at Harvard on the impact of historical memory on the political transformation of Armenia during the late Soviet period.


Intellectual Crisis and Impending Disaster

The intellectual crisis in Armenia, or "brain drain," has been building for some time as perhaps more than a million Armenians have left the country since its gaining independence in 1991. As NAASR Board Chairman Manoog S. Young observed in his introductory remarks, "without the head, the body will suffer." The crisis is one which feeds on itself; the more people leave, the worse conditions are, and the worse conditions are, the more people leave.

Krikorian stated at the outset of his talk that he feels two sets of responsibilities: as a scholar and as an Armenian. His lecture balanced these two, providing a sometimes highly critical analysis of conditions both in Armenia and in the Diaspora, as well as evincing compassion and personal concern that the Armenian Republic not perish. He warned that the situation is one of "distress and impending disaster" but also observed that it is "a story of incredible dedication, courage, and perseverance."


Repeated Crippling of Armenian Intelligentsia

While acknowledging that the massive out-migration is as a whole potentially catastrophic, Krikorian's talk was focused on the loss of, or negative effects on, the intelligentsia or intellectuals, that nebulous category of people generally understood to be the "brain trust" of the nation, and those who set the intellectual agenda of the nation. The past century has seen the Armenian intelligentsia repeatedly shattered and rebuilt. Within the first half of the twentieth century, there occurred the devastation of the Armenian Genocide in 1915-23, the Stalinist purges of the 1930s, and World War II. The Soviet practice of sponsoring intellectual work - as long as it remained within Soviet ideological bounds - encouraged respect for intellectuals and their work; and once Soviet control loosened under Gorbachev, Armenian intellectuals "were in the forefront of the effort to rethink fundamentally all aspects of Armenia's situation, past and present." The politicizing of the intelligentsia occurred during a period of intense idealism, but "the high hopes characterizing the period of 1988-91 have long since evaporated, along with state subsidies and support for intellectual work."


Relationship Between Diaspora and Homeland

In the absence of state support for intellectuals, many have looked to the comparatively wealthy Armenian Diaspora, especially in America. Krikorian emphasized that since the very idea of a Diaspora implies a homeland from which the people have been dispersed and since most Armenians in America feel some kind of dedication to the homeland of which the Armenian Republic is the last remnant still inhabited by Armenians, then "the achievements of the Armenian homeland are your achievements; the defeats of the homeland are your defeats; and the suffering of the Armenian homeland needs to be your suffering as well." This is acutely the case with Armenian intellectuals, he stressed, since the state is consumed with more concretely pressing problems, and the society as a whole lacks the capital to sponsor intellectual work while the Diaspora has such capital.

Krikorian, who has traveled regularly to Armenia since the 1988 earthquake, has also observed the steady decline in intellectual work in the Republic. In addition to losing intellectuals to migration, many have been forced to seek work outside their area of expertise or to continue to work within their field for little or no pay. He cited the example of the staffs of the State archives and former Communist Party archives in Yerevan, who had been paid only once in the past nine months. The workers pool their resources so they can have one good meal per day. According to Krikorian, about $10,000 a year could keep the 42 employees of these two archives paid for a year. As evidence of the desperation that has overtaken many of these people, Krikorian noted the increase in the number of rare and valuable books which now can be bought at the Yerevan open-air markets as intellectuals have been forced to liquidate their most treasured assets - their book collections.


Preservation of Armenian Republic Must Be Top Priority

While painting a sometimes dire picture of conditions in Armenia, Krikorian stressed that "none of us has the right to be judgmental" towards the Armenians who have left the country. He urged people in the Diaspora to seek out and find the honest people in Armenia and help them before it is too late. He foresees that the legacy of 70 years of Soviet rule will take years to overcome, perhaps two generations of Armenians who will not grow up under Communism; and he stated that the goal should be "to keep the country going until those two generations can mature and take over." Until Armenia is stabilized, he insisted, "preservation of the Republic should transcend all other considerations," even Genocide recognition. "We spent a tremendous amount of effort trying to get the Genocide recognition resolution passed, and I applaud that," Krikorian said, "but I don't see the point in lobbying for Genocide recognition when the Republic of Armenia is teetering on the brink."


Topic of Great Interest to Audience

Following Krikorian's talk, there was a lengthy and spirited question-and-answer period as the subject was clearly one of importance to the audience. "We have self-appointed leaders deciding what's best for Armenia and the rest of us are sitting in this room shaking our heads not knowing what to do," Krikorian said. "Everyone has always tried to impose solutions on Armenia from without, and it never works - it has to come from within." Many in the audience wondered what is happening to the millions of dollars that have flowed into Armenia from the Diaspora, to which Krikorian replied, "It's not always a priority of donors that their money is being used properly. Sometimes, the propaganda value of just sending things is enough." Furthermore, there is too little coordinated effort to help, and entities that could serve as coordinating bodies - such as the Armenian Church - have not picked up the slack. The millions of dollars going into building the new cathedral in Yerevan, for example, many feel could be better spent differently.

In conclusion, Krikorian stated, "If we call ourselves Armenian," then everything possible must be done to help Armenia and to preserve the intellectual core of the nation. "There's a lack of leadership and a lack of vision because so many people have left; so many people have left because there is a lack of vision and leadership." "We can help them," Krikorian insisted, "but eventually they have to help themselves."

Robert Krikorian has served as local representative for the United Armenian Fund, logistics consultant for Project Hope, and consultant on refugee affairs (all in Yerevan); worked as a research assistant and a coordinator of the regional scholar exchange program at the Kennan Institute for Advanced Russian Studies in Washington, D.C.; worked in Moscow as an on-site coordinator for Trident International; and acted as an escort interpreter with the United States Department of State Office of Language Services.

More information on Krikorian's lecture or about NAASR and its programs for the furtherance of Armenian studies, research, and publication may be had by calling (617) 489-1610, by fax at (617) 484-1759, or by writing to NAASR, 395 Concord Ave., Belmont, MA 02478.