Ani Melqonyan, Ph.D. student in Oriental Studies with focus on Uyghur issues

The expert community dealing with international relations and security studies is involved in active debates regarding the current phase and future developments of the international security architecture. The prevailing topic is the end of the United States unipolar hegemony and the establishment of a more multi-polar but unstable and more complicated world with less respect towards international laws and growing emphasis on coercive policy, including threats and use of military force and economic sanctions and hybrid tactics.

Meanwhile, there is another growing pattern of current world affairs: the Euro-Atlantic community, and especially the US, has taken steady steps to establish new dividing lines across the globe between so-called good and bad states/right and wrong sides of history. If in the Cold War period the good international actors were the US, Western Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and others and bad one was the Soviet Union, this time we have more candidates for bad guys – the heavyweights are China, Russia plus some medium-size players such as Iran, Venezuela, Syria, North Korea.

The US is quite aggressively demanding from medium and small states around the globe to make a clear choice – either you are with us or against us. The efforts pursued by some countries to develop partner relations with both China and the US, or Iran and the US, are increasingly rejected by Washington. The new dividing lines are being drawn not only in geopolitics but also in geo-economics, especially in the quickly developing digital economy. The recent tough campaign against Chinese telecommunication giant Huawei with the overt goal to kick the company out from global markets is a clear example of such a policy. According to Americans, no state would be allowed to cooperate with Huawei and simultaneously have access to American digital technologies. You have to make a choice; either you are cutting ties with Chinese telecommunication companies, or you are effectively being blocked from US tech giants. Moreover, this particular US campaign is truly global, spanning small and medium-size states from the Middle East and Post-Soviet space to as remote places as French Polynesia in the Pacific.

President Biden expanded this idea, elaborating the vision of the 21-century geopolitics as the battle between democracies and authoritarian powers. During one of the first press conferences after assuming office held on March 25, 2021, Biden declared that the world was facing a battle between the usefulness of democracies in the 21st century and autocracies. This idea of a battle between democracies and others may bring back the bi-polar features of the Cold war when the West was opposing the USSR. As the first tangible step to bring together democracies, the US declared its intention to organize the first summit for democracy to be held on online on December 9-10, 2021. The US does not even hide that the summit has clear–cut objectives - to put additional pressure on China and Russia and rally states around the US in its efforts to contain China.

By inviting to the summit Taiwan, an inseparable part of the People's Republic of China, which is a clear breach of US commitment to one-China policy, and bringing such persons as Nathan Law from Hong Kong, the US seeks to use the concepts of democracy and human rights in its narrow geopolitical interests, thus discrediting these ideas. On December 6, 2021, the US announced a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Winter Olympics in China, stating that no official delegation would be sent to Beijing. This move is another step to bring the world into the Cold War era, as the US and then USSR boycotted the 1980 Moscow and 1984 Los Angeles summer Olympics. This step is another evidence of the US policy to use not only democracy and human rights but also the sport as a tool to contain China and deter its rise. Armenia is under pressure too. Given hard geopolitical reality, Armenia, since gaining independence in 1991, has cultivated a strategic alliance with Russia and friendly relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran, which along with Georgia, serves as only gates towards the world due to closed borders with Armenia's two other neighbors - Azerbaijan and Turkey. In recent years Armenia is making efforts also to promote strong relations with China. Given Armenia's urgent need for foreign investments and transport infrastructure development, furthering relations with China is strategically important for Armenia.

The strategic national interests of Armenia require making steady steps to promote further relations with China keeping the current level of Russia–Armenia strategic alliance intact. Armenia should involve Chinese investments in creating joint ventures with Chinese companies which will be shareholders and have their share of revenues. China may play a vital role also in developing Armenia's transport infrastructure.

Armenia also should put more effort into getting an observer status in Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) (as for now, Yerevan is a dialogue partner). China may play a key role in Armenia's efforts to digitalize its economy further. Negotiations

should start on possibilities for Chinese companies to develop a 5G network in Armenia which will be a crucial element in the modernization of the Armenian economy and securing the qualitative advantage over its neighbors.

Armenia has no intention and desire to be involved in great power geopolitics and be another small soldier in the US fights against Russia and China for the actual or imaginary sake of democracy. This game may endanger the mere existence of Armenian statehood. Armenia could not reject the invitation and should participate in the summit. Meanwhile, Armenia should be cautious not to sign any documents that may signal to Russia and China that Armenia acts against their interests.