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FOREIGN POLICY, SUSHI AND DOLMA: ARMENIA'S 'AND AND' SOCIETY
November 01, 2013 | 16:13
Armenian News-NEWS.am continues Arianne & Armenia project within the
framework of which every Friday Arianne Caoili tells about numerous
trips across Armenia and shares her impressions and experience of
living in Armenia.
Foreign policy, sushi and dolma: Armenia's 'and and' society
In Yerevan, one can order both khorovatz and sushi in the same
restaurant. The idea that choice equates to luxury has bred a whole
set of restaurants which offer the most culturally and geographically
distant dishes possible for a palette to experience in one sitting (I
was recently at a place which served spaghetti arrabiata, schnitzel
and salmon teriyaki - if the owners had a twisted sense of humour
they could offer a bundle of all three dishes and label it 'the Axis
powers' special').
In places catering to the lower middle to middle upper market, menus
are painstakingly comprehensive. It is as if the waiter was handing
over a thick book of laws in which you had to choose one (something
I have only experienced in other ex-Soviet nations. Perhaps it is
an obsession with the possibility of choice, a relatively recent
reborn phenomenon). However, restaurant menus are actually Armenia's
'and and' society at play.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian recently gave
a lecture at OxfordUniversity on the directions ofArmenia's
foreign policy, appropriately titled Multi-vector foreign policy of
Armeniaï"¿ï"¿ï"¿ï"¿ï"¿ï"¿. The title and talk reflect a case of wanting
your dolma and sushi too: Armenia's strategic relations with Russia,
a close partnership with the United States, and active collaboration
with the European Union.
This sentiment is not new; it has just evolved into a more actively
pursued instrument to promote national interests tailored by pragmatism
and economic rationality. Having it both ways was explicitly described
as the 'policy of complementarity' (coined by former Foreign Minister,
Vartan Oskanian), which explains Armenia's ability of harmonizing
interests and relations with both the West and Russia. The latter's
economic and security ties undoubtedly outweigh the former - but
cooperation with the EU and the West certainly signal willingness
for plurality in selected spheres.
The gluttony for choice reaches into Yerevan's music scene too. Start
your musical awakening at Parvana (and I mean awakening in its wake
up! You're in Hayastan sense), then jump into a fully-fledged nostalgic
rock concert, and then melt away the early hours of the morning in a
hot salsa club. For those of you thinking that this is impossible,
know that it is not because I've done it - all in the space of one
very tiresome, schizophrenic day. The same mentality infiltrates
weddings: the usual romantic jazz standards are lined up with rabiz,
alternating on the playlist side by side like Japanese raw tuna sushi
and Armenian popokov badrjan rolls on the same plate.
The fixation with options (or at least, the appearance of the
possibility of 'having it all') can also be seen in the location
choices of many hotels or the residential constructions of society's
'and and' upper-crust: they have to be both next to nature and right
on the highway. In most countries I'm familiar with (not only the rich
ones), it is the norm for a property's value to plummet as it gets
closer to any major traffic-ridden road, not to mention a highway. Not
so here: extravagance means having proximity to the privacy-invading
noise and eyes of onlookers passing by, while also being provided
with the peaceful serenity of nature that any collection of shrubs
close to a highway can muster.
I remember walking down Abovian for the first time and a group
of youngsters in bright coloured t-shirts approached our walking
group, handing out condoms. It was an attempt to promote safe sex and
celebrate 'modernity' in all its brazen shades. And yet, the tradition
of handing over a bowl of bright red apples on the morning after the
wedding is still a commonly held custom - if not physically brought,
it is at least an unsaid expectation held by all. A very sobering
example of the 'and and' society if there was one.
But Armenians don't compromise on everything. They have quite a few
survival tactics in a long catalogue that they have had to forge
- and sincere stubbornness is certainly one of these. I very much
enjoyed President Serzh Sargsyan's joint press conference with Polish
President Komorowski in June this year, where he stated quite bluntly
that "for some, Europe still remains a market rather than a system
of values". He was, let us guess, referring to a neighbor or two of
Armenia's who have proven to be more 'as if' in their foreign policy:
portraying an image that would suggest 'as if' the country were going
in a certain direction ('as if' they promoted human rights, and 'as
if' trade liberalization were a priority), whereas their domestic
actions and political discourse present another picture entirely.
Everyone tends to be a hypocrite in one way or another (I, for example,
profess to have healthy eating habits but gorge on the fat-soaked
lavash under the khorovatz when nobody is looking). But Armenians
are well known for fearsomely sticking to their guns when it comes
to fighting for a principle or friend close to the heart (or, in the
chess player's case, fighting not to lose - the ability to defend
was the hallmark of ex-World Champion Tigran Petrosian's style).
To counter the political, religious, economic and explicitly sinister
designs from various powers throughout the ages, Armenians have
learned several survival tactics to combat them: avoiding marriage into
foreign communities, using the church as an instrument of leadership
to form unity, excelling in trade, flourishing in the arts, achieving
powerful political positions in various parts of Eastern Europe, and
the downright dirty skill of fighting to survive. Armenia is a bit like
a drop of oil in a bowl of water: it is surrounded but never overtaken,
and engulfed but never losing its structural integrity. The question
of course, is what will Armenia's tactic of choice and competitive
advantage be in the very globalized 21st century?
In his humorous but realistic article Ð~PÑ~@мÑ~Oнин, Derenik
Demirchian wrote that in diplomacy, Armenia is so concerned with
coming across as sincere - so much that it unfortunately leaves the
impression of being a trickster and flatterer. He is somewhat right:
Armenia is sincerely pragmatic. It is arguably a good strategy - why
choose between 'either, or' when you can have 'this and that'? I plan
on using the same justification when taking my next restaurant order.
Arianne Caoili
http://news.am/eng/news/178825.html
November 01, 2013 | 16:13
Armenian News-NEWS.am continues Arianne & Armenia project within the
framework of which every Friday Arianne Caoili tells about numerous
trips across Armenia and shares her impressions and experience of
living in Armenia.
Foreign policy, sushi and dolma: Armenia's 'and and' society
In Yerevan, one can order both khorovatz and sushi in the same
restaurant. The idea that choice equates to luxury has bred a whole
set of restaurants which offer the most culturally and geographically
distant dishes possible for a palette to experience in one sitting (I
was recently at a place which served spaghetti arrabiata, schnitzel
and salmon teriyaki - if the owners had a twisted sense of humour
they could offer a bundle of all three dishes and label it 'the Axis
powers' special').
In places catering to the lower middle to middle upper market, menus
are painstakingly comprehensive. It is as if the waiter was handing
over a thick book of laws in which you had to choose one (something
I have only experienced in other ex-Soviet nations. Perhaps it is
an obsession with the possibility of choice, a relatively recent
reborn phenomenon). However, restaurant menus are actually Armenia's
'and and' society at play.
Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian recently gave
a lecture at OxfordUniversity on the directions ofArmenia's
foreign policy, appropriately titled Multi-vector foreign policy of
Armeniaï"¿ï"¿ï"¿ï"¿ï"¿ï"¿. The title and talk reflect a case of wanting
your dolma and sushi too: Armenia's strategic relations with Russia,
a close partnership with the United States, and active collaboration
with the European Union.
This sentiment is not new; it has just evolved into a more actively
pursued instrument to promote national interests tailored by pragmatism
and economic rationality. Having it both ways was explicitly described
as the 'policy of complementarity' (coined by former Foreign Minister,
Vartan Oskanian), which explains Armenia's ability of harmonizing
interests and relations with both the West and Russia. The latter's
economic and security ties undoubtedly outweigh the former - but
cooperation with the EU and the West certainly signal willingness
for plurality in selected spheres.
The gluttony for choice reaches into Yerevan's music scene too. Start
your musical awakening at Parvana (and I mean awakening in its wake
up! You're in Hayastan sense), then jump into a fully-fledged nostalgic
rock concert, and then melt away the early hours of the morning in a
hot salsa club. For those of you thinking that this is impossible,
know that it is not because I've done it - all in the space of one
very tiresome, schizophrenic day. The same mentality infiltrates
weddings: the usual romantic jazz standards are lined up with rabiz,
alternating on the playlist side by side like Japanese raw tuna sushi
and Armenian popokov badrjan rolls on the same plate.
The fixation with options (or at least, the appearance of the
possibility of 'having it all') can also be seen in the location
choices of many hotels or the residential constructions of society's
'and and' upper-crust: they have to be both next to nature and right
on the highway. In most countries I'm familiar with (not only the rich
ones), it is the norm for a property's value to plummet as it gets
closer to any major traffic-ridden road, not to mention a highway. Not
so here: extravagance means having proximity to the privacy-invading
noise and eyes of onlookers passing by, while also being provided
with the peaceful serenity of nature that any collection of shrubs
close to a highway can muster.
I remember walking down Abovian for the first time and a group
of youngsters in bright coloured t-shirts approached our walking
group, handing out condoms. It was an attempt to promote safe sex and
celebrate 'modernity' in all its brazen shades. And yet, the tradition
of handing over a bowl of bright red apples on the morning after the
wedding is still a commonly held custom - if not physically brought,
it is at least an unsaid expectation held by all. A very sobering
example of the 'and and' society if there was one.
But Armenians don't compromise on everything. They have quite a few
survival tactics in a long catalogue that they have had to forge
- and sincere stubbornness is certainly one of these. I very much
enjoyed President Serzh Sargsyan's joint press conference with Polish
President Komorowski in June this year, where he stated quite bluntly
that "for some, Europe still remains a market rather than a system
of values". He was, let us guess, referring to a neighbor or two of
Armenia's who have proven to be more 'as if' in their foreign policy:
portraying an image that would suggest 'as if' the country were going
in a certain direction ('as if' they promoted human rights, and 'as
if' trade liberalization were a priority), whereas their domestic
actions and political discourse present another picture entirely.
Everyone tends to be a hypocrite in one way or another (I, for example,
profess to have healthy eating habits but gorge on the fat-soaked
lavash under the khorovatz when nobody is looking). But Armenians
are well known for fearsomely sticking to their guns when it comes
to fighting for a principle or friend close to the heart (or, in the
chess player's case, fighting not to lose - the ability to defend
was the hallmark of ex-World Champion Tigran Petrosian's style).
To counter the political, religious, economic and explicitly sinister
designs from various powers throughout the ages, Armenians have
learned several survival tactics to combat them: avoiding marriage into
foreign communities, using the church as an instrument of leadership
to form unity, excelling in trade, flourishing in the arts, achieving
powerful political positions in various parts of Eastern Europe, and
the downright dirty skill of fighting to survive. Armenia is a bit like
a drop of oil in a bowl of water: it is surrounded but never overtaken,
and engulfed but never losing its structural integrity. The question
of course, is what will Armenia's tactic of choice and competitive
advantage be in the very globalized 21st century?
In his humorous but realistic article Ð~PÑ~@мÑ~Oнин, Derenik
Demirchian wrote that in diplomacy, Armenia is so concerned with
coming across as sincere - so much that it unfortunately leaves the
impression of being a trickster and flatterer. He is somewhat right:
Armenia is sincerely pragmatic. It is arguably a good strategy - why
choose between 'either, or' when you can have 'this and that'? I plan
on using the same justification when taking my next restaurant order.
Arianne Caoili
http://news.am/eng/news/178825.html