The United States and the Armenian Genocide

JULIEN ZARIFIAN is Professor in U.S. History and Civilization at the University of Poitiers, France, and fellow at the Institut Universitaire de France. He is the author of two books in French and has published dozens of academic articles in journals such as Society and European Journal of American Studies.  

Introduction


Part I. The United States, the Armenians, and the Armenian Genocide before the Genocide Convention

1. The United States and the Armenians Prior to the Genocide: The Emergence of Certain Bonds

2. The United States and the Massacres of 1915

3. From Hope to “Memory Erosion:” The United States and the Armenian Matter in the Interwar Period


Part II. The United States and the Post-WWII Armenian Awakenings

4. The United States and the Armenian Awakening of the Late 1940s

5. The United States and the Armenian Awakening of 1965 

6. The United States and Turkish-Armenian Extreme Polarization in the 1970s-1980s 


Part III. The First Steps of a Decades-Long Struggle for Recognition of the Armenian Genocide by the U.S. Government (1970s/1980s)

7. A Sinuous Road: The Matter of Recognition of the Armenian Genocide in the United Nations, at the White House, and in Congress in the 1970s

8. Progress and Setbacks During the Reagan Administration

9. A Case Both Emblematic and Unique: Bob Dole and Senate Joint Resolution 212 (1989-1990)


Part IV. Intensification and Diversification of the Opposition Between the Pro- and the Anti-Recognition Factions (1990s/2000s)

10. The Armenian Genocide and the U.S. Post-Cold War Context

11. George W. Bush’s First Mandate: Between Turkish-Armenian Reconciliation Illusions and Armenian Efforts in Congress

12. George W. Bush’s Second Mandate and the Difficult Progress of U.S. Recognition of the Genocide


Part V. Toward Full Recognition of the Genocide: The Obama, Trump, and (Early) Biden Eras

13. High Hopes and Immense Regrets: The Genocide (Non) Recognition during the Obama Era 

14. Toward Full Recognition of the Genocide in Congress—Despite the Trump Administration’s Opposition  

15. “Finishing the Job”: President Biden’s Historic Recognition of the Genocide  


Part VI. Why It Took the United States Fifty Years to Recognize the Armenian Genocide  

16. Turkey, Geopolitics and Nonrecognition of the Armenian Genocide by the United States

17. The Nonrecognition of the Armenian Genocide: A Matter of Lobbying?

18. The Armenian Genocide and Memory Issues in the United States


Conclusion


Notes

Bibliography  

Index