President Armen Sarkissian spoke as a keynote speaker at the discussions held in the framework of the Munich Security Conference: the world has been changing and will be changing, and if we stay within patterns, we will in many cases hit the wall

President Armen Sarkissian, who is the Federal Republic of Germany on a working visit, spoke as a keynote speaker at the discussions held in the framework of the Munich Security Conference.

In the series of discussions, lectures were delivered by world-famous figures and among them the renowned American political scientist, Professor of the Public Policy Center of the Harvard Kennedy School of Government Joseph Nye (who coined the term “soft power” and related theory), distinguished American political scientist, philosopher, and author Francis Fukuyama, well-known political scientist, Professor of the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance Graham Allison, and others.

Lecturing as a keynote speaker at the discussions related to quantum politics, President Sarkissian spoke about his quantum theory, rapid changes happening in the world, global risks, new quantum technologies and systems, and quantum behavior of politics. Present at the discussions were Joseph Nye, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Polan Radoslav Sikorsky, ambassadors accredited to Germany, heads of multiple famous thinktanks, political and public figures, diplomats, reputable experts and analysts.

“The world has been and will be changing very fast. To understand what’s going on in the world, to understand security problems and challenges, it is necessary to go deeper, to find causes because things we see today are just consequences,” the President of Armenia said. “We all are already living in a totally different world. Perhaps we are not seeing it, perhaps we are not talking about it because we are still thinking in a classical way. We think about our hisoty, big things, which still remain classical. However, if you look closely at small particles, for instance, at the societies, in that case things change dramatically. I call it quantum politics, in its figurative meaning. Classical institutions are becoming less and less important or useful.

Quantum, new technologies are having a great impact on our lives. Moreover, they are not only changing our lifestyle but also the fabric of our societies. We have to be strong to find unconventional solutions to the problems we face.

Thanks to the innovations in quantum mechanics, we are living a totally different life. We travel to the Moon, build nuclear power plants, create smartphones.

We are going to use all this more widely because quantum technologies, quantum computation has changed us dramatically. They change not only devises or technologies but also our societies. I have a material life but a great part of my life is virtual. I am interrelated with the world which is moving at the speed of light. My interconnections are very wide and unpredictable and are not governed in the classical way. That world has no regulations but it is a great part of our life. We, human beings, are living two lives. One is virtual, the other is material. Whether we like it or not, but the virtual is growing by day and is influencing our material life.

It has a great impact on our lives, including democracy. In the classical world democracy is exhibited during the elections when you are seeing your constituency at a specified time. They give you green light for four or five years. In this new world, democracy is happening every day, every hour and it is going to be that way even more.

We are already half-quantum because we live in a virtual world.

Geopolticial risks are becoming less and less classical. Virusis, which have originated in a Chinese city: we are lucky that the incubation period lasts for 14 days. Imagine it would be a month or two. The result would be totally quantum. It started in China but could be registered in Argentine, Canada, all over the world. We are living in an interrelated world. The world has become a place where individuals communicate very fast.

Terrorism is quantum too. To commit a terrorist act, it is not necessary any more to have a policial party, religious groups, a territory because everything is virtual, fast, and quantum. In the fight against terrorism we need to rediscover the new world in which we live and try to understand it.

Many of the phenomena around us will be possible to explain, to predict if we are able to change social life, political methods, philosophy, and logic. One hundred years ago, Heisenberger, Richard Feynman and others changed totally human logic, the way we look at nature. In the same way, we need to change our mentality and analyze the world around us and make predictions absolutely differently.

The revolution, which took place in Armenia, was a classical mixture of elementary particles. Discontent in the society and no need for any ideology: all you need is particles charged with great energy which will create a chain reaction.

The world is changing. It is not surprising but rather interesting. We are part of nature. Quantum mechanics can explain not only individual particles but their interconnection too, clusters, groups, such as atoms and moleculs. Then why cannot it explain human society? I believe, it can. We, our behavior is part of nature. It is possible that individually we are different but the moment we interconnect, we communicate with the speed of light, individuality becomes important. This is the world of individual power. Much of what will happen in the future is possible to explain through the change in logic. The chances of occurance for this or that event will be bigger. Every political figure in the contemporary world will be influenced by everything that surronds them. Comments on their actions will be formed based on their approaches regarding probability.

Today, we are living in a half-classical and half-quantum world. We don’t recognize it. There is an epidemic in China. What to do? We are trying to find classical solutions, close the doors, ban Chinese from coming to Europe. It is a classical solution. A terrorist act in Afghanistan. What do we do? We blow up Afghanistan. Do we solve the problems related to terrorism? No…”

Responding to the questions raised during the discussions, including on the influence of the quantum world on politics, President Sarkissian said in particular,
“Armenia is a small state but global nation. As many Armenians live in the US and Russia as in Armenia. This is a global world which is pretty interconnected. What Armenians, who live in California, Passadena do when they get home? There is a couple of options: enjoy Armenian brandy or watch Game of Thrones, sit in front of a compture and search for Game of Thrones series because it’s fun. But they go to Facebook and advise the president, prime minister; advices can be from one to ten, ten thousand, or fifty thousand. They advise the government on taxes. Government, prime minister and minister of finances received thousands of comments. And if you are sensitive and value the virtual life, for you it becomes a massage on what people expect from you. Then you start analyzing that flow of uncontrollable information. The main bulk of those comments are from fake users. Part of senders are Armenians from Armenia, others are Armenians from California…Sometimes fantastic ideas appear but when you adopt a law, which is classical, it cannot influence them. They will not pay that taxes because they pay them in the US.

What to do in that case? First thing to do is to think of new avenues to regulate the virtual world which is the world of quantum politics. Borders in the virtual world do not exist. There are quantum particles, individuals, and interconnection. Living in California, you can get information on what’s happening in Armenia. It is very difficult to distinguish what is true what is false. Policywise, it is necessary to identify your constituency and appeal to it. There are ways to do it but I believe first we need to think of how to regulate that quantum or virtual world in which we live. I have got some ideas but will not present them now because they might seem ridiculous even to politicians.

As long as we have not defined rules of the game for quantum world, it is impossible to thing about applying them. We will do something which will be classical but that classical solution will not be efficient…

Not only Armenians have influence on Armenia. Europeans can have influence on America, Americans on Russia, Russians on China… and so on. We are living in a new world which is like that.”

The President of Armenia said that life in the future would be difficult but would also have some advantages. “Today we can make decisions which will be out of the box,” Armen Sarkissian said. “It is time to think out of the pattern rather than repeat continuously classical truth which is well-known to everybody.

In the framework of this conference we have discussed also issues related to climate change. If I plant a tree here, in Munich, it probably will be an input on the global scale. And in a sense, I will also change climate in Armenia. Different countries have different ways to fight this problem. What to do in this situation? Let’s think out of the box. Let’s take Armenia, Germany and France. Armenia has foreign debt to other countries, or, let’s say, China. Instead of repaying the debt, Armenia could plant a tree contributing to making the world a greener place. This is a mutually beneficial process. We make our country greener and more prosperous and at the same time contribute to having a greener world.

This is a working solution considering the fact the the world is our common place. Climate too, has not boundaries. Let’s think away from patterns. If I am to present this idea to international financial organizaitons they will not accept it outright because any new idea creates discomfort. Quantum world means also trying to find solutions out of patterns. This world will be changing and if we continue to stay in the pattern, we in many senses will hit the wall. We will find ourselves in much worse conditions if we fail to find solutions.” In response to the question on whether being a phisysist influences or changes his approaches regarding politics or political problems, President Sarkissian said in particular, “Nature has mathematical laws. If in nature we are guided by mathematical laws only, we will not come to understand nature. Physics, chemistry, etc are also needed. Mathematics is the constitution of nature, physics and biology are real life. Thus for every country the constitutions is the red line which must not be crossed. When problems appear, people are reinventing mathematics. Nature-related discoveries help develop mathematics. Discoveries in real life help even change constitution and laws. A businessman ought to know laws. If you aspire to become an entrepreneur, you ought to know mathematics, laws and financial area. Structured thinking is necessary in politics and also faith that your logic is your greatest tool. It is also necessary to have disciplined thinking and resolve to act.”