RFE/RL reports that the opposition Orinats Yerkir party has also joined government critics of a bill introduced by Raffi Hovannisian’s Heritage party which would officially recognize the independence of the self-declared Republic of Nagorno Kara…

It is important to always remember that the idea that the international community, in the form of the OSCE, is a passive arbiter between Armenia and Azerbaijan is partly false. Were it true, then it would be also true to say that its a pretty lousy arbiter because more than a decade has passed and nothing has changed. Why?

It is false twice over, actually. It is false first because there is no such thing as an “international community,” there is only global capital or, more accurately, western, I’d say mainly American, British, and some western European capital seeking to go global. Capital doesn’t have a nationality, but it sure speaks many languages, including Armenian.

It is false a second time because, far from being passive, capital has an interest (pun not intended, but rather worth contemplating). Its primary goal is to grow by absorbing every nation into its system. It does this by lending money–at interest–to countries through institutions like the World Bank and the IMF and setting as a condition to the loan the countries’ restructuring of their economies to make them fit its “standards,” which are unsurprisingly low when it comes to people who work for a living, and high when it comes to governments providing services, like, oh, I don’t know, education and healthcare and little things like that.

It then goes in with its propaganda organs, which commence to propagate a drama wherein the WB and IMF never show up, and if they do, they are always in the role of some kind of humanitarian institutions trying to improve the lives of the people. Yeah, right. And Jeffrey Dahmer was just a regular guy.

The villains in this propaganda drama are of course the politicians–corrupt, incompetent, and foolish. Many of them really are, of course, but in reality they didn’t create the mess and are quite incapable of resisting global capital. But the fact that their hands are tied in this sense doesn’t change the fact that they do take the money and they do restructure the economy. They also try to carve a niche for themselves through corruption, which makes them even more susceptible to the powers that be, which makes them even more willing to appease them.

Now it is the case with Armenia that global capital has not been able to fully absorb it. The reasons for this are mainly two: Russia and Iran. Or, from a broader perspective, the reason is one: China. If global capital could talk, it would be saying, “I see Chinese people…” Except it doesn’t take a sixth sense to figure that out. There are reports every day about economic ties being established between Russia, Iran, and China. These ties are an attempt at resisting global capital and the reason that Ahmadinejad would enthusiastically show solidarity with a country that is literally on the other side of the planet, Venezuela.

With these considerations in mind, we can get a better idea about what the Gharabagh conflict is about. The question is, What purposes does the Gharabagh conflict serve global capital?

For one thing, it keeps the borders closed, which causes poverty, which results in even more loans. The genocide issue contributes to this, too, and global capital just loves the genocide issue. For another thing, the war means disunity among its victims. If Turkey, Armenia, and Azerbaijan were united, there would be a far less need for any of the countries to take loans. Then there is, of course, even more loans for reconstructing the devastation that the war has reaped. And that’s not to mention arms sales.

War is the ultimate creator of demand…for loans. Think Lebanon, Palestine, much of Africa, Kosovo, and, of course, Gharabagh.

If you think that’s a conspiracy a theory, wait until you hear the reason why loans are such a big, big deal. For every thousand dollars that a bank loans, it gets to create–out of thin air, basically–a thousand credits. Let me repeat: If you go out and take a thousand dollar loan, that thousand dollars that you sign for wasn’t there before your signature; it was created through your promise to pay it back.

If you take that $1000 and do anything with it other than burying it in the ground or destroying it, it will eventually end up getting deposited in a bank again. The bank can then take that deposited money and lend out 90% of its value. The cycle continues like this, until out of the original 1,000, ten times the amount is created–out of thin air. The banks, of course, charge interest on the money they have lent, too. Kaching! That’s how money is created. Not according to any actual precious metal in “the vault,” but through loans.

Ninety-five percent of the money in the world was created through this process.

And, of course, why lend to individuals when you can lend to entire nations? When the World Bank lent money to Armenia, it lent to more than 3,000,000 people at once. When a nation’s politicians accept loans like this, they’ve basically sold the future of the nation’s people to the bank, and astronomical amounts of money are created through this. When they say War is Big Business, the arms sales are not even the half of it. And that is what the Gharabagh conflict means to global capital.

I may be wrong, but I would venture to guess that the money used to pay for the arms recently purchased by Azerbaijan was borrowed, too, based on projected oil sales.

There’s, of course, a lot more to this story, but this is already long. Just keep in mind that if I’m right, and I think I am, there is an incentive for elected officials to NOT even WANT to solve the Gharabagh issue because kickbacks through the selective spending of loan money is how they make their money. No war = No loans. How many times can you make the same building? As many times as its bombed, baby. You get the picture.

If you want to find out more about the creation of money through loans here’s a good place to start:
http://www.brightcove.com/title.jsp?title=1044487084&channel=219646953

Karabakh declared itself an independent state in 1991 shortly after breaking away from Azerbaijani rule but has since failed to win formal recognition by any country of the world, including Armenia. The current and former authorities in Yerevan have resisted periodical domestic calls to recognize the dispute territory’s independence, saying that such a move would only complicate efforts at a peaceful resolution of the Karabakh conflict.

Stepan Safarian, a parliament deputy from Hovannisian’s Zharangutyun party, said the latest deadlock in Armenian-Azerbaijani peace talks is a major reason for the bill’s circulation. He expressed hope that the pro-government majority in the National Assembly will back it.

However, speaker Tigran Torosian and other majority leaders made it clear that they will oppose the initiative, seeing ulterior motives behind it. They also said it would create an additional obstacle to a Karabakh settlement.

“Recognition of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic by the Republic of Armenia must have a very serious justification,” Torosian told RFE/RL. “It is not right for individuals who are uninformed about the course and details of [Armenian-Azerbaijani] negotiations to introduce bills for known reasons to the parliament.”

“If the Republic of Armenia unilaterally recognizes the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic as an independent state, the work of the OSCE Minsk Group will become meaningless,” said Aram Safarian, secretary of the parliament faction of the Prosperous Armenia Party.

A senior lawmaker from another governing party, the Armenian Revolutionary Federation, took a similar view. “Such initiatives must not be ends in themselves or stem from some political calculations or party interests,” said Armen Rustamian. “They must take into consideration state interests and not obstruct the negotiating process.”

Sorry, but I think some people don’t understand how sanctions are applied on countries and how wars start or resume. There are reasons why Armenia hasn’t recognized Karabakh and Haik details them above. Again, I consider this to be a calculated move to score political points against the government. Still, it stands no chance of passing so the question is more one of whether people will consider Hovannisian to be reckless and endangering the security of Armenia or whether they will consider the government ready to “sell-out” Karabakh.

Incidentally, I also consider that articles on settlement in the territory surrounding Nagorno Karabakh in the Armenian press and which are designed to force the issue are also reckless and irresponsible. I say this knowing for a fact that a Foundation in the Diaspora is secretly funding their publication on the provision that the source of finance is not known. Like we don’t already have enough problems in the region.

It doesn’t happen often, but I’m with the pro-government parties on this one. Moreover, if LTP doesn’t run, it’s probably why the international community will also support a Sarkisyan presidency next year as well.

As you also say, I also suspect that Raffi Hovannisian knows that this bill won’t pass, but that it can be used against the government as a result. Had Armenia been able to officially recognize Karabakh’s independence since 1991 it would have. That it hasn’t implies there are some VERY serious risks involved that would also include significant international outrage and possible sanctions.

Still, that’s assuming two things aren’t true. Firstly, that maybe the international community is tired of Azerbaijan dragging it’s heels over the status of Nagorno Karabakh, and secondly, that the government itself doesn’t want this to go through. For now, however, I agree that this is an act designed to cause potential political damage ahead of the presidential election.

Let’s see what will be. However, unless the international community gave Raffi the green light in private I too believe that this is a dangerous act and anyone who knows how wars start or resume should also understand that. It’s a gamble by Raffi Hovannisian, and one that strikes me as very reckless unless he knows something that we don’t, that is.

As I said, I’m more inclined to think that the government will prevent this bill from passing although again suspect that Hovannisian never thought it stood a chance of doing so either. Sanctions and a resumption of hostilities with Azerbaijan is not what anybody needs.

They WANT war.

I know that that puts you in an awkward position.

But that is what is happening. I don’t like it and will do everything I can to stop it.

Why RA has not recognised the independence of Artsakh?

1. The de facto recognition will officially involve Armenia’s in the war. So far Armenia was not an official party in the war which gave Armenia the flexibility to negotiate and it gave Artsakh the possibility to act as an individual entity. before 1998 Artsakh took part in all negotiations as an independent entity.

2. The recognition will be perceived as a hostile act not only by Azerbaijan but also by the global community. Armenia will be an aggressor. So far this was a conflict of Self determination and not a war of Aggression. This will justify Azerbaijan if it decides to annul all the previous agreements. It will also give them a justification if they decide to invade Armenia. This is a very dangerous act which will not bring any benefits to Armenia.