POLITICAL COMMUNICATION DURING THE 2020 WAR: SETTING THE STAGE FOR DEFEAT
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/jos.2024.26.2.185Keywords:
2020 war, military defeat, crisis management, information warfare, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Nagorno-KarabakhAbstract
The present paper looks into the Armenian side of the 2020 war in the pursuit to elucidate the non-military factors that led to the devastating defeat of the Republics of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh. Based on the available public records (public statements, media publications), as well as non-structured interviews with select high-ranking officials, the article aims to improve expert-level understanding of the wartime management that led to the Armenian defeat. This paper also attempts to launch a discussion on wartime behaviour of the political elite in Armenia.
References
1. A few then-high level officials with knowledge of Security Council discussions elaborated on the content in expert interviews with authors.
2. A more detailed discussion on the 'democratic invincibility' can be found at:
3. Aliyev announced that negotiations over the Karabakh conflict are actually suspended. 2020. TASS< https://tass.ru/mezhdunarodnaya-panorama/9502113. September 19. (Accessed 19.06.2023)
4. Amirkhanyan Zh., A Failure to Innovate: The Second Nagorno-Karabakh War. The US Army War College Quarterly: Parameter, 2022, pp. 119-134; Cheterian V., Technological determinism or strategic advantage? Comparing two Karabakh Wars between Armenia and Azerbaijan. Journal of Strategic Studies., 47 (2) 2024., pp. 214-237.
5. Armen Sarkissian has addressed the leaders of several Arab nations. 2020. Radio Liberty. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30866170.html. 30 September. (Accessed 15.10.2023)
6. Artak Davtyan was sacked from his position as the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces, Onik Gasparyan replaced him.” 2020. Armenian Times. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/189737. June 8. (Accessed 18.06.2023)
7. Azerbaijan wants capitulation of Artsakh, not settlement of the conflict”. 2020. Armenpress. https://armenpress.am/en/article/1032826. October 26. (Accessed 21.06.2023)
8. Bavakanach'ap' jank'er ch'gortsadrvets'in paterazmy Hayastani ev Arts'akhi hamar arravel barenpast paymannerov..., July 3, 2023. RFE/RL Armenian Service, https://www.azatutyun.am/a/32487309.html (Accessed 15.06.2023)
9. Boin A., Hart P., Stern E. and Sungelius B., The Politics of Crisis Management: Public Leadership under Pressure. Cambridge. Cambridge University Press, 2005.
10. Davit Tonoyan, then-Minister of Defence, confirmed the reports about the urge by the Chief of General Staff to stop the war "in 2-3 days". https://panarmenian.net/arm/news/300124 (Accessed 05.07.2023)
11. Decree No. 1586-N of the Republic of Armenia on Declaration of Martial Law in the Republic of Armenia. 2020. https://www.arlis.am/DocumentView.aspx?docID=146652. (Accessed 16.11.2023)
12. Discussed this with two experts and provided more details.
13. Grigoryan S. The Armenian Velvet Revolution. Yerevan, Edith Print, 2018; Armenia’s Velvet Revolution: Authoritarian Decline and Civil Resistance in a Multipolar World. 2020. (eds) Laurence Broers and Anna Ohanyan. London. I.B. Tauris, 2018.
14. Harutyunyan K., The Karabakh War, Media, Propaganda, and Immorality. Civilnet. December 16, 2020 ,https://www.civilnet.am/en/news/474655/the-karabakh-war-media-propaganda-and-immorality/ (Accessed 15.06.2023)
15. Heghine Buniatian. 2020. Lavrov: The principles of step-by-step resolution lie as the basis of discussions between Mnatsakanyan and Mamedyarov. Rus.azatutyun.am/a/30568279.html. April 21, (Accessed 15.06.2023)
16. Interview of Armenia’s Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan to BBC HardTalk’s Stephen Sackur, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dJTGRiBCRkw. (Accessed 15.06.2023)
17. Interviews with two former high-level MFA officials in Yerevan, May 2021 and February 2022.
18. Levy J., Domestic Politics and War, Journal of Interdisciplinary History. 18 (4); The Origin and Prevention of Major Wars, 1988, pp. 653-673.
19. Marukyan. With this war we should resolve the issue once and for all”, 2020. Aysor.am. September 27. https://a1plus.am/hy/article/380051 (Accessed 15.06.2023)
20. Nikoghosyan & Ter-Matevosyan, Post–Revolution and War, Armenia Must Find a Geopolitical Balance, Carnegie Endowment, March 9, 2021. https://carnegieendowment.org/posts/2021/03/post-revolution-and-war-armenia-must-find-a-geopolitical-balance?lang=en (Accessed 15.06.2023)
21. Nikoghosyan H., Ter-Matevosyan V., “From ‘Revolution’ to War: Deciphering Armenia’s Populist Foreign Policy-Making Process, Southeast European and Black Sea Studies, 23 (2), 2022, pp. 207–227.
22. Nikol Pashinyan. There was simply no possibility to decide something else in the current situation”. 2020. Aravot. https://www.aravot.am/2020/11/10/1150460/. November 10. (Accessed 18.06.2023)
23. Pashinyan is waiting for the soldiers from the frontline to finally solve the problems of those who bark under the walls”. 2020. Radio Liberty. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/30952078.html. November 16. (Accessed 15.06.2023)
24. Pashinyan. A call of duty to our soldiers discharged last year.” 2020. A1Plus. https://a1plus.am/hy/article/381206. October 5. (Accessed 09.06.2023)
25. People, let’s prepare for war, instead of discussing the topic of negotiations”. 2020. Armenian Time. https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/194847. September 2. (Accessed 15.06.2023)
26. Press Statement by the Co-Chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group and Personal Representative of the OSCE Chairperson-in-Office. 2020. Moscow/Paris/Washington, DC, https://www.osce.org/minsk-group/458068 (Accessed 15.06.2023)
27. Putin told why it was not possible to stop the fighting in Karabakh in October”. 2020. Ria Novosti. https://ria.ru/20201117/karabakh-1585078134.html?in=t. November 17. (Accessed 15.06.2023)
28. Statement by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the "Diplomat's Day" reception. March 7, 2019 https://168.am/2019/03/07/1091962.html (Accessed 15.06.2023)
29. Statement by Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan during the "Diplomat's Day" reception. March 7, 2019 https://168.am/2019/03/07/1091962.html (Accessed 15.06.2023)
30. Stern Е., Preparing: The Sixth Task of Crisis Leadership. Journal of Leadership Studies., 7 (3), 2013, pp. 51-56
31. Tamrazyan H., Papyan A.. 2018. Pashinyan. Azerbaijan’s aggression is not only against Armenia, but also against democracy in the region. Radio Liberty. July 12. https://www.azatutyun.am/a/29358788.html (Accessed 15.06.2023)
32. Ter-Matevosyan V., Deadlocked in History and Geopolitics: Revisiting Armenia–Turkey Relations. Digest of Middle East Studies, 30 (3), 2021, pp. 155–169.
33. The enemy should realize that all Armenians are today standing by Artsakh” - Prime Minister’s message to the nation. 2020. https://www.primeminister.am/hy/statements-and-messages/item/2020/09/27/Nikol-Pashinyan-message/ (Accessed 15.06.2023)
34. The Statement of the Lieutenant-General Onik Gasparyan.2023. Hetq.am. https://www.hetq.am/hy/article/157599 (Accessed 15.09.2023)
35. The will to win should tell us that we will not retreat; we will not back down; we will not be broken.” 2020․ հttps://www.primeminister.am/hy/statements-and-messages/item/2020/10/21/Nikol-Pashinyan/․ October 21.
36. Turkey will not join Azerbaijan in unleashing large-scale aggression against Armenia – Armenian MP”. 2020. Armenpress. https://armenpress.am/en/article/1023126. July 27. (Accessed 14.09.2023)
37. Weal Air Defense System, intelligence, insufficient UAVs. What did the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces report to the Prime Minister.” 2023. https://armeniasputnik.am/20230628/tujl-hop-hetakhuzutjun-anbavarar-ats-ner-inch-e-zekucel-gsh-nakhkin-pety-varchapetin-61882095.html. 28 June. (Accessed 15.08.2023)
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Վահրամ Տեր-Մաթևոսյան, Հովհաննես Նիկողոսյան

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
Authors will be entitled in ownership of the copyright for their publications.
Permitted third party reuse is defined by the following user license:
Creative Commons Attribution-Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC). CC BY-NC allows users to
copy and distribute the article, provided this is not done for commercial purposes. The users may
adapt – remix, transform, and build upon the material giving appropriate credit, providing a link
to the license. The full details of the license are available
at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/.
Under this license, authors retain ownership of the copyright for their publications, but
grant Journal of Օriental Studies and Yerevan State University
Publishing house a non-exclusive license to publish the work in paper and electronic form and
allow anyone to reuse, distribute and reproduce the content as long as the original work is
properly cited. Appropriate attribution can be provided by simply citing the original work. No
permission is required from the authors or the publishers.