Political analysis and ideology

Editorial

Yerkir/am
October 22, 2004

Political, geopolitical and ideological considerations come to
dominate social sciences today. Should political analysis be based
on ideological considerations?

At first sight, it might seem that it should not because analysis
requires neutrality, objectivity and reasoning independent of
any ideological and especially party affiliation. However, such
objectivity very often serves as a cover for absence of political
will and a specific political line, and pure reasoning often hides
the absence of a political ideal and political idealism.

The mask of objectivity often hides individuals, organizations,
elites or systems deprived of any goals of their own. The powerful
states and the political research institutes at their service do
not shun subjectivity presenting their interests and their positions
as universal.

Meanwhile, the intellectual elites suffering from provincial
inferiority complex feel ashamed for the conservatism of their national
ideals and resort to â~@~ objectivismâ~@~] and determinism. In
reality, they find themselves servicing the interests of some powerful
actors.

Assessment and analysis of domestic and internal political processes
and realities is subconsciously ideologized in Armenia. However, this
ideologization is dangerous because it derives from the pro-Russian
or pro-Western position of certain individuals thus imitating the
assessment of political realities presented by Russian or Western
sources respectively. The analysis of domestic, regional or global
issues is thus based on concepts and scenarios developed by others.

You can research thousands of sources, be very well aware of various
facts. But if you do not have your own analytical mind, your own ideal
you will not be able to analyze the situation from a perspective that
specifically suits your interests. Before any analysis is possible in
Armenia, we first of all need to develop our own position on things
and situations to be analyzed; we have to develop the ability to have
our own perspective on different things.

This can happen if we have our own vision of the future, a vision that
will be Armenian and not Russian, European or American. The vision
of the future must be based not on objective calculations but on our
will to pursue the future we want to have. Facts are objective only
for those who lack will. The future must be shaped in a way favorable
for Armenia. Facts must be analyzed only from the perspective of
Armeniaâ~@~Ys interests.

Armeniaâ~@~Ys interests cannot be completely identical with the
interests of any strategic partners or allies. The ideological factor
must be analyzed consciously. Today, the ideological factor does exist,
but is either a product of subconscious imitation or is a conscious
service paid to some external forces.

–Boundary_(ID_UXN5A62ve3moD3WV9swF9w)–