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ON THE INEVITABILITY OF THE INFORMATION WARFARE
VARDAN GRIGORYAN
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 05, 2008
Armenia
The concerns of the President have serious grounds
The fact that our country's leadership has focused its attention on the
alarming situation in the sphere of information security has serious
reasons and why not - a pre-history, as this sphere plays a crucial
role in ensuring the country's national security in general.
Having initiated the elaboration of the National Security Doctrine,
Serge Sargsyan has now started focusing his attention on such an
important sphere as information, already acting in the status of the
country's President. And it is not accidental that he raised this issue
on June the 3rd, during the working meeting with the senior officials
of the National Security Service (NSS).
Confirming the fact that the practice of disseminating misinformation
about Armenia and the Armenian people increased to the level of
professionalism in several neighboring countries long ago, the
President gave praise to our scholars and compassionate citizens who
make responses to the Turkish and Azeri propaganda by their own
initiative. In particular, he underscored, `We chiefly express our
positions in this sphere on behalf of the organizations and individuals
acting by their own initiative.'
It is not accidental that the information agencies of Azerbaijan began
thorough considerations over the viewpoints expressed by Serge Sargsyan.
They are certainly satisfied that the Armenian leader has openly spoken
about the unsatisfactory situation with the country's information
security. They consider the fact as their advantage in the information
warfare.
However, in case of being on the level, we should confess that this is
the truth, and the boldness of publicizing the reality testifies only
to the fact that Serge Sargsyan intends to bridge the gaps inherited
from the past years.
The several dozens of primitive accusations and libels elaborated by
the Azerbaijani propaganda with the purpose of compromising the
Armenian people are already available on the news pages of the
international information agencies, producing a certain impact on the
political circles of different countries. Moreover, along with
reporting all kinds of information about Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh,
the Azerbaijani Web sites also present to the reader relevant
`historical references' with a lot of spiteful information on the
`occupation' of 20 percent of the territories, the `Genocide of the
Azeris', the `Armenian terrorism' etc.
To find the right way in the vortex of the false publications and to
get familiarized with the positions of the Armenian side, the
foreigners should turn to the help of the Armenian electronic media
which, however, publicize only raw facts and, at best, some scrappy
comments regarding them. That's all. It turns out that by using the
Internet, we deal with a unilateral `game' which was doomed to failure
from the outset.
As regards the activities with the international organizations, e.g.
the OSCE, NATO and the Parliamentary Assembly, they are strictly
unsatisfactory as well. In their reports and decisions published every
month, one may almost always find certain ideas and assessments
reflecting pro-Azerbaijani and pro-Turkish viewpoints.
Neither does the Public Television make a full use of its potentials
and display the required consistency in the sphere of propaganda,
restricted to broadcasting relevant information for our compatriots of
the Diaspora.
The same is true for different analytical centers of Armenia which
receive funding from the Government. The analytical materials they
publicize are not enough for resisting our rivals in the sphere of
information and propaganda. As to the involvement of the National
Academy of Sciences and relevant institutions, it has only an episodic
character. And finally, the issue of coordinating the activities of so
many different institutions is actually in a state of neglect.
We believe it is now time for setting up some body or structure
coordinating our foreign policy propaganda and anti-propaganda.
Operating in the system of some institution, that body will also be
required to make use of the strategy and the specific working programs
elaborated by the joint efforts of the relevant analytical centers and
scientists.
Simultaneously, there is a necessity to extend our propaganda
potentials on the international arena. Relying on the Diaspora, we have
forgotten that in the course of so many decades the latter has
elaborated its own methods of propaganda, and today, in conditions of
the existing independent statehood, such methods need to be enriched
and strengthened due the broad involvement of the state agencies and
especially, the intellectual potentials.
Our state agencies, information-analytical centers, scientific
institutions, Diaspora, Foreign Ministry and parliamentary diplomacy
should be responsible for laying the foundations of the united
propaganda, by way of organizing relevant discussions and conferences.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress
VARDAN GRIGORYAN
Hayots Ashkhar Daily
Published on July 05, 2008
Armenia
The concerns of the President have serious grounds
The fact that our country's leadership has focused its attention on the
alarming situation in the sphere of information security has serious
reasons and why not - a pre-history, as this sphere plays a crucial
role in ensuring the country's national security in general.
Having initiated the elaboration of the National Security Doctrine,
Serge Sargsyan has now started focusing his attention on such an
important sphere as information, already acting in the status of the
country's President. And it is not accidental that he raised this issue
on June the 3rd, during the working meeting with the senior officials
of the National Security Service (NSS).
Confirming the fact that the practice of disseminating misinformation
about Armenia and the Armenian people increased to the level of
professionalism in several neighboring countries long ago, the
President gave praise to our scholars and compassionate citizens who
make responses to the Turkish and Azeri propaganda by their own
initiative. In particular, he underscored, `We chiefly express our
positions in this sphere on behalf of the organizations and individuals
acting by their own initiative.'
It is not accidental that the information agencies of Azerbaijan began
thorough considerations over the viewpoints expressed by Serge Sargsyan.
They are certainly satisfied that the Armenian leader has openly spoken
about the unsatisfactory situation with the country's information
security. They consider the fact as their advantage in the information
warfare.
However, in case of being on the level, we should confess that this is
the truth, and the boldness of publicizing the reality testifies only
to the fact that Serge Sargsyan intends to bridge the gaps inherited
from the past years.
The several dozens of primitive accusations and libels elaborated by
the Azerbaijani propaganda with the purpose of compromising the
Armenian people are already available on the news pages of the
international information agencies, producing a certain impact on the
political circles of different countries. Moreover, along with
reporting all kinds of information about Armenia or Nagorno Karabakh,
the Azerbaijani Web sites also present to the reader relevant
`historical references' with a lot of spiteful information on the
`occupation' of 20 percent of the territories, the `Genocide of the
Azeris', the `Armenian terrorism' etc.
To find the right way in the vortex of the false publications and to
get familiarized with the positions of the Armenian side, the
foreigners should turn to the help of the Armenian electronic media
which, however, publicize only raw facts and, at best, some scrappy
comments regarding them. That's all. It turns out that by using the
Internet, we deal with a unilateral `game' which was doomed to failure
from the outset.
As regards the activities with the international organizations, e.g.
the OSCE, NATO and the Parliamentary Assembly, they are strictly
unsatisfactory as well. In their reports and decisions published every
month, one may almost always find certain ideas and assessments
reflecting pro-Azerbaijani and pro-Turkish viewpoints.
Neither does the Public Television make a full use of its potentials
and display the required consistency in the sphere of propaganda,
restricted to broadcasting relevant information for our compatriots of
the Diaspora.
The same is true for different analytical centers of Armenia which
receive funding from the Government. The analytical materials they
publicize are not enough for resisting our rivals in the sphere of
information and propaganda. As to the involvement of the National
Academy of Sciences and relevant institutions, it has only an episodic
character. And finally, the issue of coordinating the activities of so
many different institutions is actually in a state of neglect.
We believe it is now time for setting up some body or structure
coordinating our foreign policy propaganda and anti-propaganda.
Operating in the system of some institution, that body will also be
required to make use of the strategy and the specific working programs
elaborated by the joint efforts of the relevant analytical centers and
scientists.
Simultaneously, there is a necessity to extend our propaganda
potentials on the international arena. Relying on the Diaspora, we have
forgotten that in the course of so many decades the latter has
elaborated its own methods of propaganda, and today, in conditions of
the existing independent statehood, such methods need to be enriched
and strengthened due the broad involvement of the state agencies and
especially, the intellectual potentials.
Our state agencies, information-analytical centers, scientific
institutions, Diaspora, Foreign Ministry and parliamentary diplomacy
should be responsible for laying the foundations of the united
propaganda, by way of organizing relevant discussions and conferences.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress