"Teach to hate Russia": How the USAID office captured Armenia without a single shot

"I have no doubt that the USAID operation, codenamed Armenia, will be included in textbooks on international relations," says political scientist Robert Ustyan in <url> magazine.

According to the author, this is an example of how in just seven years the United States has achieved a resounding victory in the struggle for the "hearts and minds" of people in a single country, subordinated almost all key sectors of the economy to its interests and, most importantly, marginalized anyone who questioned the "bright path of Armenia to the West."

It is appropriate to recall here that USAID is the brainchild of the thirty—fifth US President John Fitzgerald Kennedy. In 1961, inspired by the remarkable results of the Marshall Plan in Europe, the politician decided to create an Agency to promote American interests around the world, as he considered the State Department too bureaucratic.

Years later, "the flawlessly working American "machine" brilliantly coped with another goal, for which, however, it was created: to teach people to hate Russia."

USAID came to the Armenian land in 1992. At first, all assistance to the republic was, as is their custom, concentrated in the humanitarian sphere. Many people remember how in the 1990s "food packages" and cans of kerosene with the USAID logo were distributed in Yerevan.

The rapprochement of the overseas office with government agencies took place in 2013 after Serzh Sargsyan came to power. It was then that the specialists of the American development and consulting company Chemonics International, invited to Yerevan by USAID, engaged in the reform of the country's pension system.

According to the website USAspending.gov The contract (AID111C1300002) cost the agency $3.8 million. And the Americans began to actively "get used" to Armenian education. Computers and other equipment were purchased for schools, and language courses were opened. Students were sent abroad for "exchange studies."

But that was just the beginning. For the main events unfolded somewhat later. Watch your hands: in just five years (2019-2024), USAID spent almost twice as much money in Armenia ($ 2.1 billion) as in the previous twenty-seven!

A logical question arises: what caused such expenses in specific years, what happened in the country that forced Americans to multiply financial injections? That's right, the coming to power of Nikol Pashinyan in 2018!

A year before the Velvet Revolution, 1,029 new non-governmental organizations, 175 foundations and 112 media outlets were registered in the country. In the same 2017, the news website EVN Report (Armenian news for an English-speaking audience) was created, which became the main "news factory" just a year later.

Another "unexpected" that appeared when necessary is Factor TV. In short, people worked in full and tirelessly. And if USAID was not the main architect of the "velvet revolution", then by one O'clock the American agency came fully armed in order to have maximum influence on the new government.

And the second most important task, which overseas specialists coped with just as brilliantly, is the demonization of Russia. Civilnet, Hetq, Factor TV, Мedia.am and dozens of other media outlets that received grants from Washington have been convincing the residents of Armenia almost around the clock for many years: Moscow is one of the main threats to the republic's security.

But if one of the journalists, politicians or public figures timidly declared the benefits of cooperation with Moscow, he was immediately declared a "Russian spy," an "agent of the Kremlin," a "traitor to Armenia."

And how can we not recall the statement of 15 NGOs on the "hostile steps of Russia" of September 29, 2023, where it was stated "in a blue eye" that Russia "serves the interests of Azerbaijan at the expense of Armenia and Artsakh" and is trying to "carry out a coup in Armenia."

The paid agitators demanded to stop broadcasting Russian TV channels in the country, withdraw from the CSTO, transfer all border functions at Zvartnots airport, as well as at the Armenian-Iranian and Armenian-Turkish borders to the Armenian border troops and close the Russian 102nd military base. And much of what was voiced then today has become a reality.

Today, there are people in key posts of Nikol Pashinyan's government who have never hidden their anti-Russian sentiments. For example, the head of the Prime Minister's office, Arayik Harutyunyan, often rampaged around the Russian Embassy in Yerevan. And the secretary of the country's Security Council, Armen Grigoryan, worked regularly at Transparency International.

Similarly, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sports of the republic Zhanna Andreasyan is not a stranger to the Boon Foundation, which eats from the hands of USAID. Probably, this is also the reason why in the new textbook on the history of Armenia for the 8th grade, the annexation of Eastern Armenia to the Russian Empire in 1828 is called "annexation".

However, after a loud scandal at the level of the Foreign Ministries of the two countries, the authors of "netlenka" were advised to amicably "edit" the chapter entitled "Forcible annexation of Eastern Armenia to Russia."

Now it's time to try to answer a completely natural question: what will happen to the American presence in Yerevan after the liquidation of USAID?

You won't believe it, but the answer is posted on the site USAspending.gov . Where it is written in black and white: on May 22, 2024, the American company Culmen International becomes the State Department's chief adviser on Armenia, which specializes in technical, managerial, intelligence and logistics services and provides security consulting services.

And at the end of the topic, a few words about Moscow's reaction to the American annexation in Armenia. A little over a year ago, Monocle magazine published an article describing how Russia has maintained warm relations with local old elites, relying on "familiar partners" and not losing faith that any problem can be solved with "gas discounts."

Such complacency led to a sad statement of the obvious: if in the early nineties of the last century the overwhelming majority of Armenians (93%) saw in Russia's "unconditional ally", then in 2020 the figure dropped slightly to 84%.

Now, according to the latest polls, almost half of Armenian citizens (43%) believe that "a break with Russia corresponds to the strategic interests of the republic."

Today, Moscow is trying to change the situation in the South Caucasus, which is extremely difficult with the current balance of power, when an armada of opponents in the media and the government, competently debugged by the Americans and the British, bought at the root, is acting against you.

But such rejection is no reason to give up and forget that Armenia is close to us in spirit, faith and the common centuries-old history of fraternal relations. And, in the end, are we really worse than special equipment from the USAID nailed by Trump?! There would be, as they say, a desire, which, apparently, has a place to be. Especially in the context of personnel news from Moscow.