Garnik Nanagoulian: Serving Armenia in the Diaspora

Nanagoulian remained in Washington until 1995, when he was promoted to the post of ambassador to Canada. He worked there for
two years, again setting up an office from scratch. Then suddenly early one morning in 1996, he received a call from his former schoolmate, Dr. Armen Sarkissian, who had become prime minister of Armenia. Nanagoulian had never formally joined the Armenian National Movement or any other political party in Armenia. However, he had kept in touch with Sarkissian when the latter was Armenia’s ambassador to Great Britain, and shared the same vision for Armenia. Sarkissian asked Nanagoulian to become the minister of trade and industry.When Nanagoulian protested that he was not trained in this field, Sarkissian retorted, “I was not trained for becoming prime minister either!”

Nanagoulian soon began his new post, and attempted structural economic reforms to move further towards a free-market economy. He worked to centralize the government’s decision-making power on economic issues. Sarkissian was not long in office, and was replaced by Robert Kocharian. Nanagoulian found him pragmatic and results-oriented. He supported Nanagoulian’s efforts, but as political conditions changed in Armenia, Nanagoulian decided it was time for him to reassess what he wanted to do with his life, and he left the cabinet.

Nanagoulian was accepted into a program from 1999 to 2002 at Harvard’s Weatherhead Center for International Affairs, which allowed high-ranking officials from all around the world an opportunity to both teach and learn at Harvard. Nanagoulian declared: “My time at Harvard broadened my vision of things. It was the most important period in my life. I communicated with people whose books I previously was happy merely to keep on my shelves. I looked back on events in Armenia and the Soviet Union, and  developed a much better understanding of what had happened.”

As Nanagoulian got involved in non- Armenian issues, he began to feel a “nostalgia” of sorts, and when he learned about the position
of FAR director opening up in 2004, he immediately realized “this is what I can do best, much better than any sort of governmental
work. This is where I belong.” Here he could combine his knowledge of Armenia and America with his administrative and diplomatic
skills. Furthermore, though Armenian-born and Soviet-trained, he felt his vision for Armenia was transformed by what he learned in the US: “I have traveled a lot, and have never seen a better place for a human being to live.”

FAR was founded immediately after the earthquake of 1988 and focused in its early period on emergency relief. However, as conditions in Armenia changed, FAR too changed direction. Nanagoulian and what he proudly proclaims to be an extremely talented and powerful board of directors today are shifting their focus more to empowering people in Armenia to pursue their own dreams within a free market environment.  Though FAR still provides critical relief aid, it is also working to educate and provide opportunities for intellectual development for a new generation of Armenians: “This self-actualization is so important to achieve our shared dream of a consensual, productive and humane society in Armenia.” Nanagoulian would like a “truly open, free and democratic society — a society that does not accept arbitrary governance, injustice, exclusiveness, monopolistic economy, or, for example, unfair elections.” He and the others at FAR understand such social change is something that will take a long time to fully achieve, so they look to the long term in their planning. FAR is also careful to stay out of politics in Armenia, and enjoys good relations with the Armenian government (as well as the American one).

FAR serves the Armenian Diaspora as well as Armenia, because it encourages the Armenian- American to turn Armenia from an abstraction to a meaningful reality in his life, and to participate proactively in life in the Republic of Armenia. FAR thus unites Armenians throughout the world — perhaps in a way thus repeating Nanagoulian’s own family history on a bigger scale.

For more information on FAR, visit farusa.org.