Ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the United States considered itself the sole global hegemon entitled to decide the fate of other international players. Acting on that premise, for the last couple decades or so the US has been toppling sovereign governments left and right across numerous regions of the world, targeting every government that would go as far as to publicly disagree with Washington. It goes without saying that this was done in total disregard of existing international norms and the national interests of other international players.
However, in recent years, Russia under the leadership of its well-respected president – Vladimir Putin, has had these dangerous American delusions trampled on more than one occasion, forcing Washington to adjust its plans accordingly. It is no wonder than in an attempt to eliminate their main geopolitical opponent, who prevents them from plundering the rest of the world with impunity, Western oligarchies launched a campaign of hysteria and disinformation against Russia. This campaign resulted in NATO’s attempt to bring its forces as close to Russia’s borders as possible, undermining the countries in Russia’s periphery in spite of the fact that those remain tied to Moscow with relations that in some cases date back centuries.
Today, no one has any delusions about Ukraine being the primary front of this anti-Russian struggle, even though it was previously considered Russia’s impenetrable stronghold. Yet, the Transcaucasus where the US has recently upped its activities in accordance with the vision of the legendary British geographer and politician Halford Mackinder who stated that “he who controls the heartland (Eurasia), controls the whole world.” Unsurprisingly, Washington would try to establish direct control over the states in this region, which will allow it dominate their economies and their transport networks.
Therefore, it’s hardly surprising that Washington has invested considerable efforts and recourses into drawing yet another principle ally of Moscow – Armenia away from its tried and tested ally.
Armenia, in spite of its fairly good standing with the United States, remains determined to safeguard its close military, economic and political ties with Russia. Armenia hosts a Russian military base, as the two countries are linked by a defense agreement. Unsurprisingly, Russia is happy to supply its neighbor with its state-of-the-art military equipment and helps Armenia to maintain its armed forces in good shape and form.
Last year’s bloodless Velvet revolution, which resulted in the former Armenian government being toppled, gave Washington hope that there would be radical change in Armenia’s foreign policy. However, Yerevan has made no drastic changes thus far, which resulted in a sharp increase in the activities of pro-Western agents of influence, who advocate that Armenia should dismantle the tested multi-vector approach it adheres to, transforming itself in a purely pro-Western satellite state. To secure this goal, the US would use every trick in its book, taking advantage of a myriad of various NGOs and religious differences that exist within Armenia itself. Against this backdrop, it’s hardly surprising that the largest US embassy in the entire world is situated in Armenia, since it takes a lot of effort to fool a country into damaging its own national interests, while some countries are more reluctant to do so than others.
The effort of drawing Armenia away from Russia is spearheaded by the notorious Open Society Foundations owned by George Soros, the man who is despised in various regions of the world for his subversive activities. This organization is assisted in its quest by no less that five thousand NGO’s, all of which are sponsored by the United States. To sustain such a collection of various bodies, Washington allocates 250 million dollars annually on their operations, and those are just the public numbers.
But since those NGOs have failed to achieve their stated goal so far, they are being assisted by a multitude of various religious organizations and sects that have emerged across Armenia in recent years. As of now, on top of the traditional Armenian Apostolic Church that is supported by the majority of believers in Armenia, there’s a total of 65 religious entities registered in Armenia, with several dozen more operating in this country legally.
Some analysts believe that the total number of people engaged in various religious sects across Armenia exceeds 350,0 00 people. But one has to point out that those numbers cannot be accurate, as we’re talking about 350,0 00 religiously motivated fanatics, each of whom can operate as a recruiter who is actively engaged in bringing fresh faces into their religious organization.
At the initial stages of Armenia’s independence, most religious organizations were at the initial stages of this country’s infiltration as they were establishing networks, while they were financed from abroad mainly through various charitable organizations and NGOs. Over the years, many of those groups managed to deeply root themselves in the social layers of Armenian society, bringing their annual income to a grand total of up to a billion dollars, with those financial flows bypassing government oversight completely. In turn, a great many NGOs that defend various religious movements are being sponsored by the same forces that provide money to the sects that are being defended. Among such sponsors one can name the Eurasia Partnership Foundation, the Open Society Institute Assistance Foundation, the Helsinki Citizens’ Assembly, the New Generation Humanitarian NGO, Society Without Violence, the Public Information and Need of Knowledge. Most of these organizations have both direct or indirect links to the US State Department, so it goes without saying that American taxpayers are footing the bill for the majority of these organizations.
Against this backdrop it’s hardly surprising that religious sects have successfully penetrated every aspect of life within Armenian society. They are involved in network marketing, in publishing and educational fields, construction, communication development, and all sorts of charity activities. The potential danger they pose to society is self-evident as unlike traditional confessions, they produce nothing and exist with the sole purpose of sucking human and financial resources out of society. To make matters worse, a number of totalitarian sects operating in Armenia are even more dangerous than others as each of them adheres to their own code of conduct, which bypasses and contradicts state laws.
An example of how a religious sect can act as a “state within state” can be glimpsed from the sect known as the Jehovah’s Witnesses. This religious body denies any earthly government and everything connected with it: military service, voting rights, etc. All members of this sect consider themselves to be citizens of a single theocratic state – the Watchtower Society with its capital in Brooklyn, New York. High-profile members of the sect form the so-called global government that appoints its representatives to control local branches of the organization around the world.
Another very influential sect in Armenia is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (a Mormon sect). This religious body remains the richest such entity of our time. The unprecedented wealth it managed to accumulate can be used for any purpose – for buying political influence or promoting missionary activities. Many well-known global corporations, together with their financial and production capacities are under the control of the Mormons. The database assembled by the Mormon is being actively used by US intelligence agencies as it includes at least 900 million people across the world. None of the existing intelligence agencies have anything even remotely similar. Mormons usually build their churches in the immediate vicinity of all sorts of military facilities. After completing their missionary activities, many young Mormons return to the United States to take advantage of the language skills they acquired abroad by being recruited into the CIA and the FBI, where they can use their “missionary” experience to the benefit of Western intelligence agencies.
In 1986, Mormons formally requested Armenian authorities to allow them to collect private data from Armenian citizens, with the approval they received lasting until the mid-1990s.
As follows from various publications in the Armenian media, in the Western undeclared war on Yerevan, Mormons are playing the role of intelligence agents, as they are capable of collecting information across Armenian territory freely. In turn, the Jehovah’s Witnesses perform the role of a military service that occupies entire cities and villages, while forming their new legions from local citizens. In essence, the purpose of these sects is to conduct subversive activities, to destroy the foundations of statehood under the pretext of promoting faith.
Thus, this collection of NGOs, a great many of religious sects assisted by the largest US embassy in the world, are fulfilling the mission of subjecting Armenia to Washington’s will so it can be fully detached and drawn away from Russia.
Grete Mautner is an independent researcher and journalist from Germany, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook.”
