The United States and the Armenian genocide : history, memory, politics / Julien Zarifian.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Zarifian, Julien, author.

Series:

Genocide, Political Violence, Human Rights Series

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Armenian Genocide, 1915-1923.

Genocide--Turkey.

Genocide.

United States--Foreign relations--Turkey.

United States.

Turkey--Foreign relations--United States.

Turkey.

United States--Foreign relations--Armenia.

Armenia--Foreign relations--United States.

Armenia.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (325 pages)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New Brunswick, NJ : Rutgers University Press, [2024]

Summary:

"In 2021 the United States officially recognized the Armenian Genocide, ending five decades of political ambiguity by the U.S. government. That the U.S. maintained a position of non-recognition over several decades made this case a remarkable example of continuity in U.S. policy. Zarifian seeks to understand why and how the position of the United States evolved from a de facto recognition of the genocidal character of the Armenian Massacres to an ambivalent policy of "neutrality" that implicitly supported Turkey's official policy of denial. As a nation built on the destruction of Native peoples and on slavery the United States has often been particularly cautious in using the term genocide. The geopolitical importance of Turkey, however, as well as the result of battles for power and influence in Washington, D.C. by the organized Armenian American community also influenced U.S. policy on this matter"-- Provided by publisher.

"During the first World War, over a million Armenians were killed as Ottoman Turks embarked on a bloody campaign of ethnic cleansing. Scholars have long described these massacres as genocide, one of Hitler's prime inspirations for the Holocaust, yet the United States did not officially recognize the Armenian Genocide until 2021. This is the first book to examine how and why the United States refused to acknowledge the Armenian Genocide until the early 2020s. Although the American government expressed sympathy towards the plight of the Armenians in the 1910s and 1920s, historian Julien Zarifian explores how, from the 1960s, a set of geopolitical and institutional factors soon led the United States to adopt a policy of genocide non-recognition which it would cling to for over fifty years, through Republican and Democratic administrations alike. He describes the forces on each side of this issue: activists from the US Armenian diaspora and their allies, challenging Cold War statesmen worried about alienating NATO ally Turkey and dealing with a widespread American reluctance to directly confront the horrors of the past. Drawing from congressional records, rare newspapers, and interviews with lobbyists and decision-makers, he reveals how genocide recognition became such a complex, politically sensitive issue. "-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

The United States and the Armenians prior to the genocide : the emergence of certain bonds

The United States' support of the Armenians during the genocide and in its immediate aftermath

From hope to "memory erosion". The United States and the Armenian issue in the interwar period

The United States and the Armenian awakenings of the late 1940s and of 1965

The United States and the Armenian awakenings of 1965

The United States and Turkish-Armenian extreme polarization in the 1970s-1980s

A sinuous path : the question of recognition of the Armenian genocide in the United Nations, at the White House, and in Congress in the 1970s

Progress and setbacks during the Reagan administration

A case both emblematic and unique : Bob Dole and Senate Joint Resolution (1989-1990)

The Armenian genocide and the U.S. Post-Cold War context

George W. Bush's first mandate. Between Turkish-Armenian reconciliation illusions and Armenian efforts in Congress

George W. Bush's second mandate and the difficult progress of U.S. Recognition of the genocide

High hopes and immense regrets. The genocide (non-) recognition during the Obama era

Towards full recognition of the genocide in Congress

despite the Trump administration's opposition

"Finishing the job" : President Biden's historic recognition of the genocide

Turkey, geopolitics and non-recognition of the Armenian genocide by the United States

Non-recognition of the Armenian genocide : a matter of lobbying?

The Armenian genocide and memory issues in the United States.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Description based on print version record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-9788-3795-X

OCLC:

1431979443