The Only Way to Avoid War: Iranian Expert Vardan Voskanian

The only way to avoid war is not to fear it and surrender, thereby unequivocally destroying the dreams of our ancestors, ourselves, and our descendants, but rather to be prepared for war in a broad sense. This was stated by Iranian expert Vardan Voskanian on his Telegram channel.

“War and Us”
I wish to start a series of posts with this entry, through which I will attempt to address, in a not overly lengthy and straightforward manner, and in “non-diplomatic” terms, the most crucial existential issue facing the Armenian state and people—war and our relationship with it.

1. The Inevitability of War
So is it possible to avoid war in such a region against an enemy like Azerbaijan? Yes, it is possible. It is possible, but only in the case of actual surrender. And is that the vision for the millennium-long project of Armenian statehood? No, and triple no.

Therefore, the only way to avoid war is not to fear it and surrender, thus unequivocally destroying the dreams of our ancestors, ourselves, and our descendants, but rather to be prepared for war in a comprehensive sense.

One might ask why the Armenian-Azerbaijani issue cannot be resolved in a “technical” sense, for example, by conceding certain territories or agreeing to Azerbaijan’s demands. It cannot, for a very simple and unequivocal reason—the issue does not have such a “technical” solution, as the conflict is existential, clearly framed by the opposing side’s logic of “it must be either us or you.”

Thus, we must state the following starting points to proceed in the right direction:
1. The Armenian-Azerbaijani conflict is existential; therefore, it does not have a “technical” solution.
2. War can only be avoided by unconditionally accepting the enemy's program of “peaceful destruction” of the Armenian statehood.
3. War can be avoided, or not avoided, by waging a victorious war only under conditions of full preparedness in every sense.

Accordingly, the options before us, if we may put it mildly, are not so diverse, as is also the case for many countries in the Middle East. Therefore, as a state and a nation, we must have the courage to admit to ourselves as soon as possible: “Welcome to the reality of the Middle East,” and the fundamental challenge arising from that reality—namely, being prepared for the inevitable war—must become the foremost priority on our state and national agenda.