Some observers are wondering whether there is any reason to support the Armenian Genocide Resolution. The answer is no. It's egregiously foolish and needlessly provocative, and there is virtually nothing the U.S. could do to irritate the Turks more. I studied Middle East international politics in Istanbul as a college student, and as a result I'm a great fan of Turkey and its people, so perhaps I'm slightly biased. But Turkey is a tremendous ally, and, more importantly, a model for how a Muslim society can facilitate a functioning, successful democracy. Even as Islamophobics get the vapors over a more religious party (AKP) taking power in Turkey, AKP has reached out to the EU, greatly improved relations with the Kurdish population, and reformed a political system that was dominated for years by the corruption and economic failures of a party of secular elites. The Armenian genocide issue is extraordinarily sensitive in Turkey, and Turkish leadership holds tightly to the claim that the deaths were the result of legitimate battles rather than a coordinated genocidal effort. That claim is questionable, to say the least, but it's one in which the Turkish psyche is deeply invested. And it's not like the proposed Congressional resolution was the result of a few members reading about it and randomly deciding that it deserved special attention nearly a hundred years later, but rather a concerted lobbying effort by specific Armenian groups and backers. Questionable identity politics, to say the least -- I mean, what on Earth is this supposed to accomplish? There's no strategic goal whatsoever. It's not that genocide isn't a terrible thing, it's a question of costs and benefits in our overall policy. How would we react, for example, if Turkey passed a resolution in its parliament condemning the "U.S. genocide of Native Americans"? Which isn't to say that the resolution is inaccurate, but it is very selective rightness in the wrong time and place. Especially considering the damage our Iraq project has done to Turkey -- Kurdish terrorists are free to operate from Iraq's north, unmolested by U.S. or Iraqi or (Iraqi) Kurdish forces, to the extent that Turkey is likely to move in troops sometime in the next few months if something isn't done. Turkey is (or at least was, and has the potential to be again) pro-West, pro-U.S., and the best example of majority-Muslim democratic governance, and to jam a stick in their most sensitive spot of collective national consciousness is a terrible idea. Of course, it's a complicated issue, and genocide is genocide, and some people whom I respect greatly disagree with me on this. Still, from a geopolitical perspective, this is pretty foolish. --Alex Rossmiller
