Denial of the Armenian Genocide 100 Years Later: The New Practitioners and Their Trade

This essay assesses the several phases of denial from the time of the 1915 Armenian Genocide to the present, with emphasis on the most recent stage and contemporary deniers in the United States. The study analyzes their arguments and approaches, with particular attention on negationist assertions relating to intent and the claimed necessity of counterinsurgency measures against the Armenian population of the Ottoman Empire. It gives numerous examples of the factual errors and fallacies in the rationalizations that are employed. Modern denial is characterized by increased sophistication, which can include the use of seemingly sound research methods and critical-thinking techniques. Because it can look to be legitimate scholarship, denial in this form can be particularly deceptive for students and others who might not be well informed about the historical facts and extensive evidence of the Armenian Genocide. The essay concludes with a reflection on the need for strong peer-evaluation standards for journals and presses to avoid publication of denialist material.