A policy brief published by Yeghia Tashjian at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut titled “The Political Future of the Armenian Community in a Fractured Lebanon”.
Armenians in Lebanon are a deeply institutionalized and politicized community. Given its transnational nature, the community is affected by international, regional, and local developments. For this reason, the political parties and the community leadership analyze local events and position themselves in the Lebanese political space based on local, regional, and sometimes pan-Armenian calculations or interests. Hence the community, like other transnational ethnoreligious groups, absorbs from its surroundings and reacts accordingly to preserve itself from security threats.
This policy brief will explore the events that shaped the political background of the Armenian community from the early 20th century and analyze the outcome of the May 2022 general elections and its socio-political impact on the community. It will show that during the last two general elections, the main competition within the community was no longer between the traditional political parties. It has rather been between the institutionally backed “communitarians” and those “outside” the traditional community-backed institutions, such as independents and civil society-backed candidates. Moreover, during the last decade, and mainly due to financial reasons, the community is shrinking as the Armenian middle class started repatriating to Armenia. This has created a social gap in the Lebanese-Armenian community, which was clearly underlined in the outcome of the May 2022 elections. Finally, the paper will critically assess the decrease in the number of votes gained by Armenian political parties compared to the slight increase in the number of Armenian votes gained by independent Armenian or non-Armenian candidates when comparing the 2022 and 2018 results. The policy brief will also raise a few recommendations regarding new strategies and the need to adopt a vision for the future of the community amid the wave of uncertainties surrounding Lebanon.
Full link: bit.ly/42lioaR
Yeghia Tashjian
