“There is a kind of myth - the U.S. will save us. I have experienced that myth all over the world. I know that the United States will never save Armenia. Not because it has anything against Armenia, but because 99% of Americans don’t know where Armenia is, and don’t care. I’m not meaning to be cruel, I’m just meaning to be factual. And I’ve seen all my life, countries side with the U.S. on the expectation that wonderful things will happen, and then nothing good comes of it. In fact, often something very bad comes of it,” the professor said in an interview to Conversations on Groong podcast.
Jeffrey Sachs noted that in spring of 2008 Mikheil Saakashvili, then leader of Georgia, was giving a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations in the United States, saying: “We’re the center of Europe, we’re a European country, we’re going to be members of NATO, we’re going to be members of the European Union.”
“I walked out and I called my wife. And I said, that man is crazy. He’s going to get his country destroyed,” Sachs confessed.
“My advice is always this: look at the map and try to have good relations with your neighbors. This I say to any country,” the professor of Columbia University said. Sachs believes that six countries should be talking with each other systematically – the three countries of the South Caucasus and three regional powers – Russia, Turkey and Iran.
“Look at the BRICS process, very important for Armenia, because the BRICS now includes Iran. It includes Russia, the United Arab Emirates, Egypt, India. These are all relevant countries for Armenia, economically and geopolitically as well. No guarantee of success, but a lot better than saying NATO is going to save us. That isn’t going to work,” Sachs noted.
