The Origins of Armenian Lobbying in the United States: A Geopolitical Conceptualization of Restorative Justice

Abstract

This paper focuses on the origins of Armenian lobbying the U.S. government for favourable policies toward the Armenian cause in the homeland — that is, Ottoman Armenia and the Republic of Armenia (1918-1921). Vahan Cardashian, a New York lawyer, organized a lobbying campaign during and after the Young Turk genocide against the Armenian people in the Ottoman Empire (1915–1923). He and his associates formulated a geopolitical conceptualization of restorative justice. While Cardashian’s lobbying campaign eventually failed to exert the desired influence on U.S. policy during the Wilson administration, his strategy nevertheless established the foundations for Armenian lobbying in the United States for successive generations. This article seeks to contribute to the literature on ethnicity and ethnic lobbying a host state — in this case the United States — diasporan community and politics, and restorative justice.