Guests of Groong Podcast

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Abhinav Pandya

Abhinav Pandya

Dr. Abhinav Pandya is a counterterrorism and foreign policy analyst, and the founder and CEO of the Usanas Foundation, a security think tank based in India. He holds degrees from Cornell University, St. Stephen’s College, and OP Jindal Global University. Pandya has authored three books, including Inside the Terrifying World of Jaish-e-Mohammed and Terror Financing in Kashmir. He has written for major outlets such as The National Interest, Haaretz, and ORF, and has lectured at international forums including NATO and the St. Petersburg Economic Forum. He advised the Governor of Jammu & Kashmir during the abrogation of Article 370.

Recent episodes:

Adrin Nazarian

Adrin Nazarian

California State Assemblymember Adrin Nazarian from the 46th District, representing the San Fernando Valley.

Recent episodes:

Aghasi Yenokyan

Aghasi Yenokyan

Aghasi Yenokyan is the former director of the Radio Free Europe, Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) Azatutyun office in Yerevan. He is a research fellow at Columbia University in Post-Soviet Studies, and a former lecturer at Yerevan State University. He has studied political theories at the University of Chicago, public policy at Arizona State University. He is a graduate from Yerevan State University’s Physics Department, and has also earned an MBA from the American University of Armenia.

Recent episodes:

Alberto M. Fernandez

Alberto M. Fernandez

Ambassador Alberto M. Fernandez is Vice President of the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI) and a former President of the Middle East Broadcasting Networks. A U.S. Foreign Service Officer from 1983 to 2015, he served as Ambassador to Equatorial Guinea, Chargé d’Affaires in Sudan, and held senior posts across the Middle East and Latin America. He was also the State Department’s Coordinator for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications. Born in Cuba and raised in the U.S., he served in the Army and holds degrees in Middle East Studies. He writes widely on foreign policy and public diplomacy.

Recent episodes:

Alen Zamanyan

Alen Zamanyan

Alen Zamanyan was a software engineer in Los Angeles. He moved to Yerevan, Armenia, in 2020. He has followed and analyzed Armenian affairs for over a decade.

Recent episodes:

Alison Tahmizian Meuse

Alison Tahmizian Meuse

Alison Tahmizian Meuse is a veteran journalist who has reported for major international publications including Agence France-Presse and NPR. She is currently a senior advisor at the New Delhi-based consultancy DeepStrat, and co-director of Aknandakan, an investigative documentary platform. She’s based in Armenia. Alison is a graduate of the George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.

Recent episodes:

Anatol Lieven

Anatol Lieven

Dr. Anatol Lieven is the director of the Eurasia Program and the Andrew Bacevich chair in American Diplomatic History at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft. He was formerly a professor at Georgetown University in Qatar and in the War Studies Department of King’s College London. He also served as a member of the advisory committee of the South Asia Department of the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and his book Pakistan: A Hard Country (Penguin UK, 2011) is on the official reading lists for US and British diplomats serving in that country. Prof. Lieven is also on the academic board of the Valdai discussion club in Russia. He holds a B.A. and Ph.D. in history and political science from Cambridge University in England.

Prof.Lieven’s latest book, Climate Change and the Nation State (Oxford University Press, 2020), was published in March 2020 and in an updated paperback edition in Fall 2021.

Recent episodes:

Andrei P. Tsygankov

Andrei P. Tsygankov

Andrei P. Tsygankov is a Professor of International Relations at San Francisco State University. He studies Russian foreign policy, IR theory, and Western perceptions of Russia. His books include Russia’s Foreign Policy (Bloomsbury), a trilogy on Russian IR theory (Routledge), and “Canceling” Russia (Palgrave).

Recent episodes:

Andrew Turner

Andrew Turner (Amb.)

Mr. Andrew Turner was appointed Canadian Ambassador to Armenia on September 25, 2023. Ambassador Turner has a BA Hons in History, 1999; and a MA in International Affairs from Carleton University, 2001. He joined the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade in 2002. Prior to his appointment as Ambassador to the Republic of Armenia, Mr. Turner served as Director of the Eastern Europe and Eurasia Division. At Headquarters, he has served in the Cabinet and Parliamentary Relations Division, Eastern and Southern Africa Relations Division, Muslim Communities Working Group and Middle East Relations Division. Overseas, he served at missions in Saudi Arabia (2004 to 2007), Syria (2011 to 2012), Afghanistan (2013 to 2015), Pakistan (2015 to 2017) and Iraq (2017 to 2019).

Recent episodes:

Anna Abrahamian

Anna Abrahamian

Anna Abrahamian is a geopolitical analyst who splits her time between Moscow and Athens. Having obtained training in international law, Anna has worked in such noteworthy institutions as the Defense Analyses Institute in Athens as well as the Crisis Group in Brussels. Today, Anna provides her analysis on geopolitics and Armenian politics to her followers on social media and you can find her on various platforms, including Facebook, Telegram, and Youtube.

Recent episodes:

Anna Grigoryan

Anna Grigoryan

Anna Grigoryan is a member of the Armenian parliament with the Hayastan Dashinq (Armenia Alliance), no party affiliation.

Recent episodes:

Anna Karapetyan

Anna Karapetyan

Dr. Anna Karapetyan is a political scientist based in Los Angeles.

Recent episodes:

Anna Kostanyan

Anna Kostanyan

Anna Kostanyan, formerly an MP in the 7th convocation of the Armenian parliament, with the Bright Armenia party. She was also a member of the standing committee on Science, Education, Culture, Diaspora, Youth and Sport. Prior to that Ms. Kostanyan was a candidate for the member of the Yerevan council of elders, which is the Yerevan City Council, and was a founding member of the Bright Armenia party.

Recent episodes:

Ara Sanjian

Ara Sanjian

Professor Ara Sanjian is an Associate Professor of History and the Director of the Armenian Research Center at University of Michigan, Dearborn. His research interests focus on the post-World War I history of Armenia, Turkey and the Arab states of Western Asia.

Recent episodes:

Aram Orbelyan

Aram Orbelyan

Aram Orbelyan is an international law specialist, who is an attorney and managing partner at Concern Dialog law firm, and PhD in Public international law. Mr. Orbelyan lectures at the Academy of Advocates of the Republic of Armenia, and lectured public international law at French University of Armenia. Mr. Orbelyan was Deputy Minister of Justice of Armenia between 2011 and 2014.

Recent episodes:

Aram Suren Hamparian

Aram Suren Hamparian

Aram Suren Hamparian is the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of America, in Washington DC.

Recent episodes:

Archil Sikharulidze

Archil Sikharulidze

Dr. Archil Sikharulidze is a founder of the Tbilisi-based research institute SIKHA foundation, in the Republic of Georgia. He holds masters degrees in International Relations from Tbilisi State University, and Public Administration from The Robert Gordon University in Scotland. Mr. Sikharulidze is focused on Russian and Islamic Studies. Additionally, political processes and international relations in Ukraine, the South Caucasus and Kazakhstan. He writes extensively for various local and international platforms such as OpenDemocracy, NewEasternEurope, CommonSpace.EU, RIAC, and Russia in Global Politics.

Recent episodes:

Ardy Kassakhian

Ardy Kassakhian

Ardashes ‘Ardy’ Kassakhian is a Glendale City Councilman, and the current mayor of Glendale.

Recent episodes:

Areg Danagoulian

Areg Danagoulian

Dr. Areg Danagulian is an Associate Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering at MIT. He is currently working on new, monochromatic methodologies for cargo screening as well as technologies for nuclear arms control treaty verification via resonant phenomena and physical cryptography.

Recent episodes:

Arega Hovsepyan

Arega Hovsepyan

Arega Hovsepyan is an Artsakh-born public and political figure, a member of the Strong Armenia party, and former president of the Armenian Center for Political Rights. Since the November 10, 2020 ceasefire, she has been active in public and political advocacy focused on justice, the rights of Artsakh Armenians, and the issue of return. Her work centers on protecting displaced Artsakh Armenians, including calls for security guarantees and dignified living conditions in Armenia. She has supported initiatives aligned with Samvel Karapetyan’s programs and has taken part in civic movements such as the “Mer Dzevov” movement, which promotes a secure and prosperous future for Armenia. In April 2026, she was active in public campaigns calling for the return of prisoners and organizing unity rallies. Hovsepyan has emphasized her background from an ordinary family and identifies the Artsakh issue as her main driving force.

Recent episodes:

Arman Grigoryan

Arman Grigoryan

Dr. Arman Grigoryan is an associate professor of International Relations at Lehigh University. He has a doctorate in political science from Columbia University in New York, and a Master in IR from the University of Chicago. His research has appeared in International Security, Security Studies, International Studies Quarterly, International Political Science Review, Nationalities Papers, Ethnopolitics, and International Analytics.

Recent episodes:

Arman Tatoyan

Arman Tatoyan

Dr. Arman Tatoyan is the former ombudsman of the Republic of Armenia. Currently actively pursues human rights for Armenians in the republics of Armenia and Artsakh, especially through his foundation, the “Tatoyan” Center for Law and Justice.

Recent episodes:

Armen Ashotyan

Armen Ashotyan

Armen Ashotyan is the vice president of the Republican Party of Armenia. From 2005 to 2007, Mr. Ashotyan was a member of the National Assembly, and chaired the Committee on Foreign Relations. From 2009 to 2017, Ashotyan served as Minister of Education and Science. In 2017, Ashotyan was elected to the parliament again and served there until the Dec 2018 snap parliamentary elections.

Recent episodes:

Arthur G. Martirosyan

Arthur G. Martirosyan

Arthur G. Martirosyan is a Senior Consultant with CM Partners. In 1994, after graduating from Yale University, he joined Conflict Management Group and Harvard Negotiation Project, and has since worked on conflicts in the former Soviet Union, the Middle East, the Balkans, Africa, and Latin America.

Recent episodes:

Arthur Khachatryan

Arthur Khachatryan

Mr. Arthur Khachatryan is an MP from the Hayastan Dashinq (Armenia alliance) and a member of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation (ARF Dashnaktsutyun). In the past, he has held government posts such as Deputy Minister of Territorial Administration and Development, Governor of Shirak, and Minister of Agriculture.

Recent episodes:

Arthur Khachikyan

Arthur Khachikyan

Dr. Arthur Khachikyan, an International Relations expert from Stanford University, specializing in intervention.

Recent episodes:

Artur Papyan

Artur Papyan

Artur Papyan is a malware researcher, digital security consultant, co-founder of CyberHub and director of the Media DIversity Institute.

Recent episodes:

Artyom Tonoyan

Artyom Tonoyan

Dr. Artyom Tonoyan is a Research Associate at the University of Minnesota’s Center for Holocaust & Genocide Studies, where his research is focused on the nexus of religion and violence.

Recent episodes:

Arzu Geybulla

Arzu Geybulla

Arzu Geybulla is an Azerbaijani columnist and writer, with special focus in digital authoritarianism and its implications on human rights and press freedom in Azerbaijan. Arzu has written for Al Jazeera, Eurasianet, Foreign Policy Democracy Lab, Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty, CODA and more. She is a contributor at Open Democracy, IWPR, and Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso.

Recent episodes:

Asbed Kotchikian

Asbed Kotchikian

Asbed Kotchikian, is an Associate Professor of political science and international relations at the American University of Armenia.

Recent episodes:

Avedis Hadjian

Avedis Hadjian

Avedis Hadjian is a journalist and writer based in Venice. His writing has appeared in the Los Angeles Times, Bloomberg News, and Le Monde Diplomatique, among other international news outlets. His work as a correspondent has taken him to Eastern Europe, the former Soviet Union, China, the Caucasus, Turkey, and Latin America. He was educated in Buenos Aires and Cambridge, UK.

He is the author of Secret Nation: The Hidden Armenians of Turkey, about Armenians who live under different guises of assimilation in the historical Armenian provinces, Cilicia, and other regions of present-day Turkey.

Recent episodes:

Avet Adonts

Avet Adonts

Mr. Avet Adonts is a diplomat who has served Armenia through the ranks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In May, 2007, he was elected as a member of the parliament with the Prosperous Armenia party (BHK - Barkavaj Hayastan), and served as the chair of the standing committee on European integration of the National Assembly. In 2009 Mr. Adonts was appointed Armenia’s Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary to Belgium, and from 2014 to 2019 he served in Spain. From 2019 to 2021, Mr. Adonts served as the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs.

Barlow Der Mugrdechian

Barlow Der Mugrdechian

Dr. Barlow Der Mugrdechian is a historian and teaches Armenian language, art, literature, history, and culture courses in the Armenian Studies Program at California State University, Fresno. His main area of research has been Armenian literature, and he serves as the Berberian Coordinator of the Armenian Studies Program and the Director of the Center for Armenian Studies. In December 2024, Dr. Der Mugrdechian was elected as the president of the Society for Armenian Studies (SAS).

Benyamin Poghosyan

Benyamin Poghosyan

Dr. Benyamin Poghosyan is a Senior Research Fellow at APRI Armenia, a Yerevan based think tank,and the Chairman of the Center for Political and Economic Strategic Studies. He has served as the vice president for research and head of the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense Research University in Armenia. Dr. Poghosyan was a Distinguished Research Fellow at the US National Defense University College of International Security Affairs. He is a graduate from the US State Department Study of the US Institutes for Scholars 2012 Program on US National Security Policy Making. He holds a PhD in history and is a graduate from the 2006 Tavitian Program on International Relations at Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy.

Recent episodes:

Christina Maranci

Christina Maranci

Christina Maranci is Arthur H. Dadian and Ara T. Oztemel Professor of Armenian art and architectural history and Chair of the Department of the History of Art and Architecture at Tufts University.

Recent episodes:

Christine A. Arakelian

Christine A. Arakelian

Christine Arakelian is an attorney in private practice and currently advises Reina Trust Building as its Outside General Counsel. Her corporate and legal experience encompasses corporate financings, mergers and acquisitions, partnerships, civil litigation and constitutional law litigation. She was awarded a Fulbright Fellowship to Saudi Arabia, an iGorts Fellowship to the Republic of Armenia, a Global Health Law Fellowship by Georgetown Law and an Adjunct Fellowship to the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. During law school, Ms. Arakelian worked for the Central Intelligence Agency’s Office of General Counsel and had a TS/SCI clearance. Ms. Arakelian has extensive international experience and expertise and consults globally on matters pertaining to national security, technology, cybersecurity, healthcare, law and finance. She has a B.A. with honors from the University of Pennsylvania and a J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law.

Recent episodes:

David Darchiashvili

David Darchiashvili

Dr. David Darchiashvili is a Former MP of the Georgian Parliament from the party United National Movement (2008-2016). Currently he’s not affilicated with any political parties and concentrates on his research and teaching at Ilia State University Tbilisi, with expertise in International Relations. From 2002-2003 Dr. Darchiashvili was a visiting scholar at Johns Hopkins University in Washington D.C. He has authored many articles and books, one of his latest publications is Georgia: Warlords, Generals, and Politicians, By David Darchiashvili and Stephen Jones, 2020, Oxford Research Encyclopedias.

Recent episodes:

David Davidian

David Davidian

David Davidian is a Lecturer at the American University of Armenia. He has spent over a decade in technical intelligence analysis at major high-technology firms. He resides in Yerevan, Armenia. A compendium of his articles can be seen on shadowdiplomat.com

Recent episodes:

David Galstyan

David Galstyan

David Galstyan is the leader of the Justice faction in the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh.

Դավիթ Գալստյանը Արցախի Հանրապետության Ազգային Ժողովի պատգամավոր և «Արդարություն» խմբակցության ղեկավար։

Recent episodes:

Diana Mkrtchyan

Diana Mkrtchyan

Diana Mkrtchyan grew up in Armenia and graduated in Cinematographic Studies in Moscow. She is the author of five documentary films. Her first short fiction film, Gata, was selected for the Cannes Film Festival in 2008 and received numerous awards at international festivals. “Ojakh: on the other side of silence” is her first feature documentary. The film has already received several international awards, including Best Director in France and Best International Documentary in New-York.

Filmography (selected) Le don de St. Nikolaï (doc., 2007) Gata (short, 2008). Ojakh, on the Other Side of the Silence (2024)

Recent episodes:

Diana Yayloyan

Diana Yayloyan

Diana Yayloyan is a Research Associate at the Ankara-based think tank TEPAV, working on Armenia-Turkey civil society dialogue supported by the European Union. She is also a Ph.D. Candidate at the Middle East Technical University with a focus on Gender & Peacebuilding.

Recent episodes:

Douglas A. MacGregor

Douglas A. MacGregor

Col. Douglas MacGregor is a retired colonel in the United States Army, former government official, author, consultant, political commentator, defense and foreign policy analyst, and former advisor to the US secretary of defense.

Recent episodes:

Dr. Dmitry Suslov (Дмитрий Вячеславович Суслов)

Dr. Dmitry Suslov (Дмитрий Вячеславович Суслов)

Dmitry Suslov is a Russian political scientist, foreign policy analyst, and commentator specializing in great power politics, especially Russia-US relations, European security, and the evolving international order. He serves as Deputy Director of the Center for Comprehensive European and International Studies at Higher School of Economics in Moscow and is also affiliated with the Valdai Discussion Club. Trained in international relations and political science, Suslov began his career as a foreign affairs journalist before moving into academia and policy research. His work focuses on multipolarity, Russian grand strategy, arms control, and relations between Russia, the West, and emerging powers. He is widely published, teaches at HSE, and is a frequent participant in international policy forums.

Recent episodes:

Dr. Vartan Matiossian

Dr. Vartan Matiossian

Vartan Matiossian is an Armenian Studies scholar specialized in history and literature. He is the Executive Director of the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church in New York. Born in Montevideo (Uruguay), he moved to Buenos Aires (Argentina) in his childhood and graduated from the University of Buenos Aires. He has lived in New Jersey since 2000. He obtained his Ph.D. in History from the Institute of History of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia in 2006.

He has published extensively in Armenian, Spanish, and English, including ten books and many scholarly articles, reviews, translations, and commentaries. He has edited several volumes and translated more than two dozen of books into Spanish, English, and Armenian. He is the author in English of Armenian Language Matters (2019), The Politics of Naming the Armenian Genocide: Language, History and ‘Medz Yeghern’ (2022), and has co-authored A Woman of the World: Armen Ohanian, the “Dancer of Shamakha” (2023) with Artsvi Bakhchinyan. His book The Color of Choice: The Armenians and the Politics of Race in the United States and Germany (1890-1945) will be published in the summer of 2025.

Recent episodes:

Dziunik Aghajanian

Dziunik Aghajanian

Ms. Dziunik Aghajanian has served Armenia through the ranks of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and most recently as a diplomat, as Armenia’s Ambassador to such countries as the Netherlands, Malaysia, and Indonesia. She received her education at Yerevan State University, Columbia University in NY, and Uppsala University in Sweden.

Recent episodes:

Edgar Elbakyan

Edgar Elbakyan

Edgar Elbakyan is a political scientist and social thinker based in Yerevan, Armenia. He is a co-founder of the Armenian Project non-profit organization, which contributes to enhancing Armenian national civil society.

Recent episodes:

Edgar Ghazaryan

Edgar Ghazaryan

Edgar Ghazaryan, former governor of Vayots Dzor, chief of staff at the Armenian Constitutional Court, and ambassador to Poland.

Էդգար Ղազարյան, Վայոց ձորի նախկին մարզպետ, նախկինում Լեհաստանի Հանրապետությունում ՀՀ արտակարգ և լիազոր դեսպան, և սահմանադրական դատարանի նախկին աշխատակազմի ղեկավար.

Recent episodes:

Edmon Marukyan

Edmon Marukyan

Edmon Marukyan, who is a lawyer by profession and the leader of the Bright Armenia party (Լուսավոր Հայաստան). He was a member of the fifth, sixth and seventh convocations of the National Assembly of the Republic of Armenia from 2012 till 2021. He’s also a member of the newly formed commission to amend the constitution.

Recent episodes:

Ehsan Movahedian

Ehsan Movahedian

Dr. Ehsan Movahedian is an International Relations specialist, ATU University, in Tehran, Iran. He focuses on multidisciplinary research about Digital Diplomacy and politics.

Recent episodes:

Eldar Mamedov

Eldar Mamedov

Eldar Mamedov is a non-resident fellow at the Quincy Institute and a member of the Pugwash Council on Science & World Affairs, a Nobel Peace Prize–winning Track II diplomacy organization committed to pursuing a world free of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction.

Eldar has more than 30 years of professional foreign policy experience. As a Latvian diplomat from 1994–2003, he served in his country’s embassies in Washington D.C. and Madrid, Spain, where he focused on Latvia’s integration to NATO and the E.U.

From 2007–2024, Eldar served as a foreign policy adviser in the European Parliament in Brussels, Belgium and Strasbourg, France, where he accrued deep expertise in the E.U.’s relations with Iran and countries in the Persian Gulf and South Caucasus. During this time, Eldar drafted and negotiated parliamentary motions on relations with these countries, organized multiple missions to Iran and the Persian Gulf, and participated in backchannel diplomacy.

Eldar is a regular contributor to Responsible Statecraft, The American Conservative, and Eurasianet.org, where he writes on E.U. foreign policy and the Middle East. Eldar has also produced publications for The National Interest, the Stimson Center, and Amwaj.media, and has provided his expertise to CNN International, Politico, Al Jazeera, El Pais, Deutsche Welle and other international outlets.

Eldar is fluent in English, Spanish, Russian, and Latvian.

Recent episodes:

Elisa von Joeden Forgey

Elisa von Joeden Forgey

Dr. Elisa von Joeden Forgey is the founder and executive director of the Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention. She is the former endowed chair in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Keene State College in New Hampshire, and the Marsha Raticoff Grossman Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Stockton University in New Jersey. She is an expert in genocide, gender, prevention, and the history of colonialism. Dr. Joeden-Forgey holds a BA in History from Columbia University in New York City, and MA, and PhD in History, from University of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia.

Recent episodes:

Emil Sanamyan

Emil Sanamyan

Emil Sanamyan, a senior research fellow at USC’s Institute of Armenian Studies specializing in politics in the Caucasus.

Recent episodes:

Erhan Arik

Erhan Arik

Erhan Arık was born in Ardahan, Turkey, in 1984. He studied Journalism at Anadolu University in Eskişehir. During this period he became a student of Merter Oral who is a significant figure in the field of social documentary photograph. He started his career as a social documentary photographer. Since 2010, he has worked on photography and video projects focused on the memory of the 1915 Armenian Genocide. His photography and video project, which he shot in the villages at the border between Turkey and Armenia titled “Horovel”, was exhibited in Turkey, Armenia and France. His photography work “Gayan” which he started in 2014, is about the Armenian diaspora of the Middle East (Iran, Iraqi Kurdistan, Jordan, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine) was exhibited in Turkey and Iran in 2016. His documentary works “Remembering” and “Voice” were shown in IDFA under Doc Next section. In 2021, he founded Horovel Films with Meryem Yavuz to produce documentary films. He participated in IDFA Project Space, Close Up Documentary Program, IDFAcademy and IDFA Forum with his first feature-length documentary project, Our Seeds (wt). Our Seeds (wt) was supported by IDFA Bertha, Sundance Institute, Redford Grant Center and MFG Baden-Württemberg, World Cinema Found.

Recent episodes:

Fyodor Lukyanov

Fyodor Lukyanov

Fyodor Lukyanov is Chairman of the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy, a Russian think tank providing expertise in the foreign policy field. He is also editor-in-chief of Russia in Global Affairs, a platform for publication in English and Russian of research in political science and international relations. Mr. Lukyanov is also Director of Research at the Valdai Discussion Club.

Recent episodes:

Garen Jinbachian

Garen Jinbachian

Garen Jinbachian serves as the Community Coordinator for the Armenian National Committee of America - Western Region, where he leads grassroots engagement, community outreach, and youth education initiatives across the Western United States. In this role, he works closely with local chapters, community laeders, and elected officials to strengthen advocacy networks and advance policy priorities related to Artsakh, Armenia, and the Armenian-American community.

Garen oversees regional programs – including the ANCA-WR Summer Internship, advocacy trainings, school outreach, and public education efforts – while supporting strategic planning and organizational development. His work focuses on empowering community members, amplifying Armenian voices in civic spaces, and cultivating the next generation of activists and leaders committed to Hye Tahd (Հայ Դատ).

Recent episodes:

Georgi Derlugyan

Georgi Derlugyan

Dr. Georgi Derlugyan is a sociologist and historian with expertise in ethnic violence, guerrilla movements and revolutions, particularly in the Caucasus, Central Asia and Africa, as well as post-Cold War globalization. Since 2011 he has been a professor of Social Research and Public Policy at New York University in Abu Dhabi.

Gev Iskajyan

Gev Iskajyan

Gev Iskajyan is the National Grassroots Director of the Armenian National Committee of America (ANCA). Before joining ANCA in 2024, he served as the Executive Director of the Armenian National Committee of Artsakh, where he worked to raise international awareness about Artsakh’s challenges and led relief efforts.

Previously, Iskajyan held leadership roles with ANCA Western Region, the Armenian Youth Federation, and the Armenian Genocide Commemorative Committee, where he organized impactful initiatives like the ‘March for Justice’ in 2015. His insights have been featured in prominent outlets such as CNN, BBC, and Newsweek. Iskajyan studied Political Science and Philosophy at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Recent episodes:

Gilbert Doctorow

Gilbert Doctorow

Dr. Gilbert Doctorow is a professional Russia watcher of Russian affairs going back to 1965. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College (1967), a past Fulbright scholar, and holder of a Ph.D. with honors in history from Columbia University (1975).

After completing his studies, Mr. Doctorow pursued a business career focused on the USSR and Eastern Europe. For twenty-five years he worked for US and European multinationals in marketing and general management with regional responsibility.

From 1998-2002, Doctorow served as the Chairman of the Russian Booker Literary Prize in Moscow. Since 2008, Mr. Doctorow has been regularly publishing analytical articles about Russia-U.S.-EU relations on the internet. From this material he produced six books of essays, the most recent of which is the just published War Diaries. He also is the author of a two-volume set of Memoirs of a Russianist: From the Ground Up and Russia in the Roaring 1990s. A Russian edition of the Memoirs has been published in St Petersburg.

Doctorow is a long time resident of Belgium.

Recent episodes:

Giro Manoyan

Giro Manoyan

Mr. Giro Manoyan, has been a member of the ARF-D Bureau since 2015. Originally from Beirut, Lebanon, he moved to Montreal, Canada in 1976 and attended Concordia University, where he studied Political Science. He has served as the Executive Secretary of the Armenian National Committee of Canada, as well as Editor in Chief of the Horizon Armenian Weekly. In 1999 he moved to Yerevan and has served as the Executive Director of the Bureau of the ARF-Dashnaksutyun, in charge of the Armenian Cause, Hai Tahd Central Committee. ՀՅԴ Բիւրոյի Հայ Դատի եւ քաղաքական հարցերու գրասենեակի պատասխանատու.

Recent episodes:

Glenn Diesen

Glenn Diesen

Dr. Glenn Diesen a professor at the University of South-Eastern Norway, and associate editor at Russia in Global Affairs, and editor of Political economy, Russian foreign policy and Eurasian integration.

Glenn Diesen has authored several influential books that explore the geopolitical shifts in the modern world, with a particular focus on Russia’s role in the emerging global order. His works include “The Think Tank Racket: Managing the Information War with Russia”, which critiques Western think tanks and their influence on public perception and policy. “In Europe as the Western Peninsula of Greater Eurasia”, he examines the strategic implications of Eurasian integration and Europe’s changing role in the global power structure. “Russian Conservatism: Managing Change under Permanent Revolution” delves into the ideological foundations of Russian conservatism and its impact on domestic and foreign policy. Diesen’s books collectively provide a nuanced understanding of the interplay between economics, ideology, and geopolitics, offering fresh perspectives on the reconfiguration of global power and the West’s engagement with Russia

Recent episodes:

Hagop Djernazian

Hagop Djernazian

Hagop Djernazian is an activist and co-founder of the Save The ArQ movement. He lives in Jerusalem and studies International relations and middle east studies at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Recent episodes:

Hagop Ipdjian

Hagop Ipdjian

Hagop Idjian is advisor to the State Minister, he runs Artsakh Support Body, an humanitarian organization based in Artsakh. He’s a diasporan who moved to Artsakh following the war in 2020.

Recent episodes:

Hakob Hakobyan

Hakob Hakobyan

Hakob Hakobyan is the co-chair of the Artsakh Justice Party.

Հակոբ Հակոբյան, Արցախի Արդարություն Կուսակցություն նախագահ:

Recent episodes:

Hamid Bahrami

Hamid Bahrami

Hamid Bahrami is an Iranian independent international relations analyst specialising in Eurasian and Middle Eastern affairs. He holds an MA (Hons) in International Relations and Politics from the University of Dundee and an MRes in Russian, East European, and Eurasian Studies from the University of Glasgow, where his research examined Russia’s policies in the South Caucasus. Since 2018, he has published analysis and commentary in leading international outlets on topics including South Caucasus geopolitics, regional conflicts, Iran’s nuclear programme, and counter-terrorism.

Recent episodes:

Harry Istepanian

Harry Istepanian

Harry Istepanian is a PMP-certified, independent Energy Expert with more than 30 years of experience in the energy and water sectors. He worked for major international engineering consultancy firms, including Parsons Brinckerhoff, AECOM, and Power Engineers Inc. in different capacities. He was also appointed by many international organizations, including the World Bank, USAID, and USTDA to work on several development projects in Asia and Africa.

Mr. Istepanian has published over 30 op-eds, articles, peer-reviewed papers, and conference presentations in international energy and think tank journals such as the Brookings Institute, the Atlantic Council, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, Power Engineering International, and the Electricity Journal.

Harry is the founder of Iraq Climate Change Center (IC3+), a non-profit think tank based in Washington D.C.

Recent episodes:

Harut Sassounian

Harut Sassounian

Harut Sassounian, who is the Chairman of the board of trustees of HyelD. He’s also the publisher of The California Courier newspaper, and the president of the Armenia Artsakh Fund, a non-profit organization which has delivered over one $1.06 Billion in humanitarian assistance to Armenia and Artsakh since 1989.

Recent episodes:

Hayk Mamijanyan

Hayk Mamijanyan

Hayk Mamijanyan is the leader of the oppositional Pativ Unem (With Honor) alliance in the Armenian National Assembly, and a member of the Republican Party of Armenia (RPA). He’s also a member of the parliamentary group representing Armenia at the PACE, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe.

Recent episodes:

Heghnar Watenpaugh

Heghnar Watenpaugh

Prof. Heghnar Watenpaugh teaches Art and Architecture at the University of California, Davis, and is a board member of Save Armenian Monuments

Recent episodes:

Hovhannes Ishkhanyan

Hovhannes Ishkhanyan

Hovhannes Ishkhanyan, writer, documentary filmmaker, publicist, co-founder of Eye for an Eye (Akn Und Akan), a community of documentarians. Hovhannes has a Master’s in journalism from the Georgian Institute of Public Affairs.

Recent episodes:

Hrair Balian

Hrair Balian

Hrair Balian has served in leadership positions with the UN as Director of the SG’s High Representative Office in Ivory Coast (2006-2008), the OSCE/ODIHR as Head of Elections (1998-2003) and NGOs, including with the Carter Center as Director of Conflict Resolution (2008-2022) as well as with the International Crisis Group as Director of its Bosnia and Herzegovina field office (1996-1998).

During a 35-year career in public service, he has worked on conflict resolution, elections and human rights in the Balkans, Eastern Europe, Caucasus, Central Asia, Middle East and Africa. Hrair Balian has also taught conflict resolution, negotiations, and mediation at the Emory University School of Law (2008-2018). Book publication – Anatomy of Peacemaking: Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict & Missed Opportunities (Palgrave Macmillan, Feb 2016). Armenian title of the book: “ԱՆԱՎԱՐՏ ԽԱՂԱՂՈՒԹՅՈՒՆ - Ղարաբաղյան հակամարտությունն ու բաց թողնված հնարավորությունները (April 2026, Newmag).

Recent episodes:

Hrant Mikaelian

Hrant Mikaelian

Hrant Mikaelian is a political scientist and multidisciplinary researcher in social sciences based in Yerevan.

Recent episodes:

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Isabel Bayrakdarian

Isabel Bayrakdarian who is a mother, singer, teacher, poet, artist, storyteller, collaborator, believer… Not your average prima donna!

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Ivan Katchanovski

Ivan Katchanovski

Ivan Katchanovski is a Ukrainian and Canadian political scientist and professor at the University of Ottawa in Canada. He held academic positions at Harvard University, the State University of New York at Potsdam, the University of Toronto, and the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. His academic publications include 5 books, 21 articles in peer-reviewed journals, and 13 book chapters. His publications, interviews, and comments appeared in more than 3,500 media reports in over 80 countries.

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James W. Carden

James W. Carden

James W. Carden is a columnist and former adviser to the US-Russia Bilateral Presidential Commission at the U.S. Department of State. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of publications including The Nation, The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, The National Interest, The Los Angeles Times, and more. His Substack is at The Realist Review.

Recent episodes:

Jean-Daniel Ruch

Jean-Daniel Ruch

Ambassador Jean-Daniel Ruch is a former Swiss diplomat. He served as Switzerland’s ambassador to Serbia and Montenegro, then to Israel and finally to Turkey. He also served as a political advisor to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Ruch studied international relations and international security in Geneva. Éditions Zarka published his book Crimes, Hate and Tremors in June 2024.

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Jeffrey Sachs

Jeffrey Sachs

Prof. Jeffrey Sachs is a world-renowned economics professor, bestselling author, innovative educator, and global leader in sustainable development.

Sachs is widely recognized for bold and effective strategies to address complex challenges including the escape from extreme poverty, the global battle against human-induced climate change, international debt and financial crises, national economic reforms, and the control of pandemic and epidemic diseases.

Sachs serves as the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, where he holds the rank of University Professor, the university’s highest academic rank. Sachs was Director of the Earth Institute at Columbia University from 2002 to 2016. He is President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Co-Chair of the Council of Engineers for the Energy Transition, academician of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences at the Vatican, Commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development, Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Honorary Distinguished Professor at Sunway University, and SDG Advocate for UN Secretary General António Guterres. From 2001-18, Sachs served as Special Advisor to UN Secretaries-General Kofi Annan (2001-7), Ban Ki-moon (2008-16), and António Guterres (2017-18).

Sachs has authored and edited numerous books, including three New York Times bestsellers: The End of Poverty (2005), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), and The Price of Civilization (2011). Other books include To Move the World: JFK’s Quest for Peace (2013), The Age of Sustainable Development (2015), Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair & Sustainable (2017), A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2018), The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions (2020), and most recently, Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development (2022).

Sachs is the 2022 recipient of the Tang Prize in Sustainable Development and was the co-recipient of the 2015 Blue Planet Prize, the leading global prize for environmental leadership. He was twice named among Time magazine’s 100 most influential world leaders. Sachs has received 42 honorary doctorates, and his recent awards include the 2022 Tang Prize in Sustainable Development, the Legion of Honor by decree of the President of the Republic of France, and the Order of the Cross from the President of Estonia.

Prior to joining Columbia, Sachs spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University, most recently as the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. A native of Detroit, Michigan, Sachs received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard.

Recent episodes:

Joel Veldkamp

Joel Veldkamp

Joel Veldkamp is the director for public advocacy at Christian Solidarity International (CSI). He also serves as CSI’s representative to the United Nations in Geneva. Since 2020, he has been at the forefront of CSI’s advocacy efforts for the Armenians of Artsakh/Nagorno Karabakh. He holds a PhD in international history from the Geneva Graduate Institute, for his thesis on the Armenian and Arabic-speaking Christians of Aleppo during the French Mandate.

Recent episodes:

Johnny G. Melikian

Johnny G. Melikian

Johnny G. Melikian is a senior research fellow at the Orbeli Center for analysis, and the head of the Center for Political and Legal Studies. He has worked as a consultant for the International Crisis Group, and was a visiting fellow at Georgia’s Ilia State University

Recent episodes:

Karen Vrtanesyan

Karen Vrtanesyan

Karen Vrtanesyan is an expert on military and warfare strategies with a focus on Armenia and its neighboring region. He is the former coordinator of the website razm.info.

Recent episodes:

Karena Avedissian

Karena Avedissian

Dr. Karena Avedissian’s research focuses on social movements, new media/communications, civil society and governance in the former Soviet Union, with an area focus on Russia and the Caucasus.

Recent episodes:

Kegham Balian

Kegham Balian

Kegham Balian is a Jerusalemite Armenian writer. He is a columnist at The Armenian Weekly and also writes for This Week in Palestine.

Kevork Almassian

Kevork Almassian

Kevork Almassian is the founder of Syriana Analysis, an independent news and analysis platform dedicated to covering current global affairs, with a particular focus on Syria and Armenia.

Recent episodes:

Kevork Hagopjian

Kevork Hagopjian

__Dr. Kevork Hagopjian, is an attorney and human rights advocate with expertise in international law, minority rights, civil litigation, and community engagement. He holds a Ph.D. in Law from the University of Vienna, along with two LL.M. degrees in Public International Law from SOAS, University of London and U.S. Law from George Mason University as well as an LL.B. from University of Aleppo. His doctoral research led to the publication of a book on “The rights of Armenian minorities in Lebanon and Turkey under National and International law”. In addition to legal practice at Keosian Law LLP, he facilitates dialogue and peacebuilding efforts in divided or post-conflict communities. With experience spanning legal, intergovernmental, nonprofit and civil society sectors, Dr. Hagopjian remains actively engaged in global conversations on justice, accountability, and human dignity.

Recent episodes:

Kevork Hintlian

Kevork Hintlian

Prof. Kevork Hintlian is a historian and a former official at the Armenian Patriarchate of St James. He specializes in the history of the Holy Land with an emphasis on Armenians and their role in Jerusalem. He was raised and lives in Jerusalem. His heavily researched book “History of the Armenians in the Holy Land” (1989, 2nd ed., Armenian Patriarchate Printing Press, Jerusalem) is a must read.

Larry C Johnson

Larry C Johnson

Larry C Johnson is a former intelligence officer and expert on issues related to terrorism, national security, and foreign policy. As a CIA analyst in the 1980s Johnson was engaged in issues related to terrorism and security. He then worked at the US State Department’s Counterterrorism Office. Johnson has since worked as a political consultant and commentator on issues related to terrorism and security. He’s known for his critical attitude towards US foreign policy and intelligence practices.

Recent episodes:

Lenna Hovanessian

Lenna Hovanessian

Lenna Hovanessian is a community leader, attorney, and activist in Nevada. Her career began in litigation and as a federal attorney for the U.S. District Court in CA. She has blazed the trail for political activism in Nevada for 10 years as ANCA-NV Co-Chair and WR Board Member. She was awarded ANCA’s 2023 Visionary Activist Award for her leadership in advancing Armenian Genocide recognition by co-drafting and passing the NV Holocaust and Armenian Genocide Education Bill in 2021. She has been a force to advance policy for the Armenian cause and human rights from NV to Wash. D.C.

Recent episodes:

Levon Zourabian

Levon Zourabian

Levon Zourabian is the Vice-President of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party of Armenia, which is led by the first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan who was in office from 1991-1998. He worked in the presidential administration as Aide and Chief Spokesman to the President. In 1998-2000 Mr. Zourabian studied at Columbia University and has a Master of International Affairs from the School of International and Public Affairs. From 2012-2017 Mr. Zourabian led the parliamentary faction of the ANC in the National Assembly of Armenia. Trained and having researched as theoretical physicist in Yerevan Physics Institute, he also makes appearances as Tech Advocate for the ANC.

Recent episodes:

Lori Khatchadourian

Lori Khatchadourian

Lori Khatchadourian, who is Associate Professor of Near Eastern Studies at Cornell University and co-director of the Caucasus Heritage Watch satellite monitoring project.

Recent episodes:

Ltc. Karen U. Kwiatkowski

Ltc. Karen U. Kwiatkowski

Ltc. (ret.) Karen U. Kwiatkowski is a retired U.S. Air Force officer whose assignments included duties as a Pentagon desk officer and various roles for the National Security Agency.

After retiring, she become a noted critic of the U.S. involvement in Iraq. Kwiatkowski is known for her insider essays denouncing a corrupting political influence on military intelligence, especially leading up to the 2003 Iraq. In 2012, she challenged incumbent Bob Goodlatt in the Republican primary for Virginia’s 6th district in the U.S. House of Representatives.

While in the Air Force, she wrote two books, Africa: African Crisis Response Initiative: Past Present and Future (2000) and Expeditionary Air Operations in Africa: Challenges and Solutions (2001). She contributed to Ron Paul: A Life of Ideas (2008) and Why Liberty: Personal Journeys Toward Peace and Freedom (2010). She has been featured in several documentaries, including Why We Fight (2005). She has written for LewRockwell.com since 2003 and her work has appeared in Salon and The American Conservative. She has an MA in Government from Harvard, an MS in Science Management from the University of Alaska, and a PhD in World Politics from The Catholic University of America; her thesis was titled Angola, A Case Study of the Implementation of the Reagan Doctrine. She is a founding member of Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity.

Recent episodes:

Maria Karapetyan

Maria Karapetyan

Maria Karapetyan, is a member of the National Assembly with the My Step parliamentary group and the Civic Contract party. She is a member of the Standing Committee on the Protection of Human Rights and Public Affairs, and the Armenian Delegation to Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE PA) and heads the Armenia-Italy Parliamentary Friendship Group. Maria holds degrees in Linguistics and Intercultural Communication and European Studies from Yerevan State University, as well as a Master’s degree in Peace Studies from the University of Rome Three.

Recent episodes:

Marine Manucharyan

Marine Manucharyan

Marine Manucharyan (no relation to Hovik Manucharyan) is president of the Civic Forum NGO. Her areas of focus include Artsakh, the Armenian Armed Forces, National Security and Foreign Policy.

Recent episodes:

Markus Ritter

Markus Ritter

Dr. Markus Ritter is the Head of Mission of the European Union Mission in Armenia (EUMA). He is a senior police officer with extensive experience on national and international level. During his 27 years of professional career with the German Federal Police, he held various leadership positions on executive and staff level, and has gained extensive experience during five international deployments.

Recent episodes:

Matthew Hoh

Matthew Hoh

Capt. Matthew Hoh is EisenHower Media Network Associate Director. He’s a ‘Former USMC Captain and State Department Officer, and Iraq War combat veteran and Afghanistan War State Department officer.

Recent episodes:

Metaxe Hakobyan

Metaxe Hakobyan

Metaxe Hakobyan, member of the Justice faction in the National Assembly of the Republic of Artsakh.

Մետաքսե Հակոբյանը Արցախի Հանրապետության Ազգային Ժողովի պատգամավոր և «Արդարություն» խմբակցության անդամ:

Recent episodes:

Michael Goorjian

Michael Goorjian

Michael A. Goorjian is an Armenian-American actor, filmmaker, and writer. He has won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Special for his role as David Goodson in the television film David’s Mother. As a director, Goorjian achieved recognition for his first major independent film Illusion, which he wrote, directed and starred in alongside Hollywood legend Kirk Douglas. He wrote, directed, and starred in the critically acclaimed “Amerikatsi’’, which marks a historic milestone for Armenian Cinema, as the first film submitted by Armenia to the Academy Awards to make the Oscar Shortlist for the category of Best International Feature.

Recent episodes:

Mihran Hakobyan

Mihran Hakobyan

Միհրան Տարոնի Հակոբյան, հայ պատմաբան (պատմական գիտությունների թեկնածու), քաղաքական գործիչ, և 6-րդ գումարման ազգային ժոլովի պատգամավոր (անկուսակցական , «ՀՀԿ» խմբակցություն).

Mihran Taroni Hakobyan is an Armenian historian and a PhD Candidate in Historical Sciences. He is a civic activist, and member of the Armenian National Assembly of the 6th convocation (non-partisan, “RPA/HHK” faction).

Recent episodes:

Mikael Darbinian

Mikael Darbinian

Mikael Darbinian is a political scientist and former US diplomat, having served at the US embassies in Argentina and Russia as vice-Consul. He is the founder of Security Observer: Expert voices from the Global South, graduated from Madrid’s Complutense University, has lived and worked in eight countries.

Darbinian is currently (2026) a private security consultant for the Strong Armenia party with Samvel Karapetyan.

Recent episodes:

Naira Melikyan

Naira Melikyan

Naira Melikyan is an activist mother in Armenia. Since her son, Hayk Melikyan, was was martyred in the 44-day war in 2020, she has fought for the rights of parents and relatives of Armenian fallen soldiers.

Recent episodes:

Nare Navasardyan

Nare Navasardyan

Nare Navasardyan is a writer, documentary filmmaker, and journalist based in Yerevan. She served as a correspondent for Hairenik Media (2024–2025) and has appeared as a commentator on Sahar TV, RT, and others. She co-founded Eye for an Eye NGO, an artist community in Armenia, and is currently working on a book, Manufactured Defeat: A Material History of Post-2018 Armenia.

Narek Malyan

Narek Malyan

Narek Malian, a distinguished Armenian fiction writer and PR specialist, grew up in St. Geghard monastery, deeply shaping his worldview. After graduating from the Monte Melkonian Military College, he earned a Master’s in International Law from Yerevan State University and a second Master’s in Public Administration from the Armenian State University of Economics. Malian transitioned from a role in the Military Police’s Homicide Investigations Unit to pursue a career in PR, founding the successful “Peoplemeter” PR Agency and later Malian PR in 2019. He served as Adviser to the Head of Armenia’s Police (2011-2017) and taught courses on PR ethics and strategy at the Police Education Complex and Yerevan State University.

Recent episodes:

Nikoloz Bitsadze

Nikoloz Bitsadze

Dr. Nikoloz Bitsadze is a researcher at The Center for International Politics Research and Forecasting (CIPRF), with a PhD in politics and international relations from Tbilisi State University.

Recent episodes:

Nino Skvortsova

Nino Skvortsova

Nino Skvortsova is a scholar who researches media studies, and regime transformation in the South Caucasus. Currently she is a post-graduate, PhD candidate, researching Regime transformation of Georgia. She has MA in Theory and History of International Relations from RUDN, the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, and has also studied Social Sciences at the Caucasus International University in Tbilisi, Georgia.

Recent episodes:

Pascal Lottaz

Pascal Lottaz

Dr. Pascal Lottaz is an associate professor of law at the University of Kyoto, in Japan. He specializes in the study of neutrality in international relations, Geopolitics in East Asia, European Politics, Nuclear Nonproliferation, and the study of the Second World War.

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Paul Cormarie

Paul Cormarie

Paul Cormarie is a policy analyst in RAND’s Washington D.C. office. His research focuses on NATO and European defense policy, force planning, and security cooperation. He is also a CSIS Nuclear Scholar where he is currently conducting research on European deterrence. Previously, Cormarie was a Researcher at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, where he wrote reports on the Alliance and in other topics related to European security. Prior to these roles, he has also been affiliated with CSIS, Atlantic Council, the EU Delegation to the United States, and the United Nations. Cormarie holds a M.Sc. in Foreign Service from Georgetown University.

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Philippe Raffi Kalfayan

Philippe Raffi Kalfayan

Dr. Philippe Kalfayan is Legal Counsel and lecturer/researcher at the Paris Pantheon Assas Univ./Paris Human Rights Center. He is Assistant Judge HCR at the National Court for Asylum Rights. He served as secretary general of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and as Legal Expert for the Council of Europe’s Directorate General for Human Rights and Rule of Law. He has authored La France et l’Imprescriptibilité des Crimes Internationaux (Pedone 2015) and La Réparation des Préjudices en Lien avec les Crimes Historiques (TBR Pedone April 2026). He has been involved in institutional reforms and strategic projects in the Republic of Armenian for the last 30 years.

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Pietro Shakarian

Pietro Shakarian

Dr. Pietro Shakarian is a historian of Russia and the Soviet Union. He is the author of the book Anastas Mikoyan: An Armenian Reformer in Khrushchev’s Kremlin. Dr. Shakarian’s analyses on Russian and post-Soviet affairs have appeared in The Nation, The Plain Dealer, and various other publications. He was previously a lecturer in history at the American University of Armenia in Yerevan.

Recent episodes:

Rafael Ishkhanyan

Rafael Ishkhanyan

Rafael Ishkhanyan is a lawyer specializing in human rights, particularly freedom of assembly and expression. He coordinates the monitoring of peaceful assemblies at the Helsinki Committee of Armenia and is a member of the ODIHR Panel of Experts on Freedom of Assembly and Association. In 2023, together with colleagues, he co founded the Armenian Center for Political Rights, a watchdog organization focusing on detecting, responding to, and preventing political persecution and safeguarding political rights.

Recent episodes:

Rananjay Anand

Rananjay Anand

Rananjay Anand is the Co-Founder & President of the Indo-Armenian Friendship NGO.

Recent episodes:

Robert Amsterdam

Robert Amsterdam

Robert Amsterdam is an international lawyer with over 40 years of experience in high-profile disputes across emerging markets. He is founding partner of Amsterdam & Partners LLP, based in London and Washington, D.C., known for innovative work in complex litigation, arbitration, and white-collar defense involving political and policy dimensions.

He has advised governments, corporations, and political leaders worldwide, including former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, former Zambian President Rupiah Banda, Ugandan MP Robert Kyagulanyi (Bobi Wine), Tanzanian opposition leader Tundu Lissu, Cameroonian politician Maurice Kamto, and others. He has also represented major corporations such as PricewaterhouseCoopers and Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts, specializing in “bet the company” cases and political risk.

Amsterdam & Partners has been recognized for its pro bono human rights work, winning the Global Pro Bono Dispute Award from the American Lawyer for its work in Zimbabwe, and representing opposition figures from Singapore to Venezuela. Amsterdam has also defended high-profile political prisoners, including Mikhail Khodorkovsky of Russia’s Yukos Oil and Venezuelan businessman Eligio Cedeño, both of whom were freed.

His commentary has appeared in the New York Times, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, and Forbes, and he has been featured on CNN, BBC, CNBC, Bloomberg, and Fox News. Amsterdam is a member of the Canadian and International Bar Associations and a solicitor in the United Kingdom. He studied at Carleton University (BA) and Queen’s University in Ontario (LLB).

He currently represents Samvel Karapetyan, a prominent Armenian entrepreneur involved with the Armenian Apostolic Church.

Recent episodes:

Rouben Galichian

Rouben Galichian

Rouben Galichian is an author and specialist of Armenia’s maps and borders through 2600 years of history. His works can be found on roubengalichian.com.

Recent episodes:

Ruben Melikyan

Ruben Melikyan

Ruben Melikyan was formerly Artsakh’s Human Rights Ombudsman, and prior to that he was rector of the Justice Academy of Armenia. In 2019, Melikyan co-founded and currently leads the “Path of Law” NGO. Իրավական ուղի in Armenian.

Recent episodes:

Ruben Muradyan

Ruben Muradyan

Ruben Muradyan is a Yerevan-based cybersecurity analyst. He’s an independent researcher, and a frequent speaker on cybersecurity topics on ArmSec, BarCamp.

Recent episodes:

Scott Horton

Scott Horton

Scott Horton is an American radio host, author, and prominent voice in the libertarian antiwar movement. He is the editorial director of the Libertarian Institute and Antiwar.com, as well as the host of The Scott Horton Show, where he has conducted thousands of interviews with experts on foreign policy, war, and civil liberties. He also hosts Antiwar Radio on 90.7 FM KPFK in Los Angeles.

Horton has authored several highly regarded books critiquing U.S. military interventionism, including Fool’s Errand: Time to End the War in Afghanistan, Enough Already: Time to End the War on Terrorism, and most recently, Provoked: How Washington Started the New Cold War with Russia and the Catastrophe in Ukraine. Through his writing and broadcasting, Horton has become a leading critic of American foreign policy, advocating for non-interventionism and diplomatic solutions over perpetual warfare.

Recent episodes:

Sergei Melkonian

Sergei Melkonian

Dr. Sergei Melkonian is currently a Research Fellow at APRI Armenia, a Yerevan-based think tank. He served as assistant to President of Armenia, Armen Sarkissian, on foreign policy (Middle East and post-Soviet space). Sergei is also a guest lecturer at Yerevan State University and the Russian-Armenian University.

Recent episodes:

Serop Azarian (Տ. Սերոբ Քահանայ)

Serop Azarian (Տ. Սերոբ Քահանայ)

Fr. Serop Azarian has served in the Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Church between 1999-2007, the Western Diocese of the United States between 2007-2010, and the Canadian Diocese 2011-2014. Born in Kuwait, he immigrated to the United States of America in 1987, and served in the US Army as a guardsman and is a Veteran. He pursued his university education in Montclair University, Alliance University and Nazarene Bible College with a Bachelors degree in Divinity and Biblical Studies. Fr. Serop works as a court interpreter in Clark County, Nevada while remaining active as a priest educator.

Recent episodes:

Setrag Balian

Setrag Balian

Setrag Balian is a Jerusalemite Armenian activist and co-founder of the Save The ArQ movement.

Recent episodes:

Sopo Japaridze

Sopo Japaridze

Sopo Japaridze is the chair of Solidarity Network, an independent care workers union in Georgia. She has been a labor organizer for over a decade. She researches and studies labor and social relations and writes for various publications. She is cofounder of the Reimagining Soviet Georgia podcast.

Recent episodes:

Stanislav Krapivnik

Stanislav Krapivnik

Stanislav Krapivnik is a former US Army officer, supply chain exec and military-political expert, now based in Russia. He was born in Lugansk during the Soviet times, migrated to the US as a child, served in the US army, did not like what it was doing in former Yugoslavia, quit, and returned to Russia. Mr. Krapivnik is an independent contractor and consults and appears in the international media in his areas of expertise in military matters, NATO, America, history, economics and supply chains.

Recent episodes:

Suren Sargsyan

Suren Sargsyan

Suren Sargsyan is the founder and President at the Armenian Center for American Studies, a research center based in Yerevan.

Recent episodes:

Tatev Hayrapetyan

Tatev Hayrapetyan

Hayrapetyan is an expert in Azerbaijani studies and holds a PhD in History. She was an MP at the 7th convocation of Armenia’s National Assembly. Being involved in the activities of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs she was also a member of the Armenian Delegation at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. She is mainly focused on domestic developments in Azerbaijan, particularly examining the impact of the Nagorno Karabakh conflict on internal politics. She is co-author of one monograph, the author of two monographs, and more than 40 scientific and analytical articles.

Recent episodes:

Tatevik Soghoyan

Tatevik Soghoyan

Tatevik Soghoyan is a public law and international relations specialist currently practicing as an attorney in Armenia. As the niece of a victim of enforced disappearance during the 2020 Artsakh war, she also advocates for the humanitarian rights of missing persons and their families. Tatevik holds a B.A. and M.A. in Law from Yerevan State University, as well as an M.A. in International Relations from MGIMO University and UNITAR.

Tatul Manaseryan

Tatul Manaseryan

Dr. Tatul Manaseryan, is an economist and academic, as well as a national and state actor in Armenia. Dr. Manaseryan is an MP from the 3rd convocation of the national assembly (2003-2007). He appears regularly in the media and speaks on economic matters.

Recent episodes:

Tevan Poghosyan

Tevan Poghosyan

Tevan Poghosyan is president of the International Center for Human Development. Mr. Poghosyan was an MP in the National Assembly between 2012 and 2017 from the Heritage party. From 1997 to 1999 he served as the Nagorno-Karabakh Public Affairs Office Director in Washington, D.C.

Recent episodes:

Trita Parsi

Trita Parsi

Dr. Trita Parsi is Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute, where he advances a vision of U.S. foreign policy grounded in restraint and diplomacy. An influential Washington policy thinker, he has been named one of the capital’s 25 most influential voices on foreign policy by Washingtonian magazine each year since 2021.

A recipient of the 2010 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order, Parsi is the author of four widely praised books on U.S. policy in the Middle East, including Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran, and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale, 2017). His work combines rigorous scholarship with direct experience in international institutions, including service at Sweden’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations, where he handled Security Council matters on Iraq and Afghanistan.

Born in Iran and raised in Sweden, Parsi earned a Ph.D. in International Relations from Johns Hopkins SAIS, studying under Francis Fukuyama and Zbigniew Brzezinski. He previously co-founded and led the National Iranian American Council and has taught at Georgetown, NYU, and Johns Hopkins.

Parsi’s insights appear regularly in The Washington Post, New York Times, and Financial Times, and he is a frequent guest on CNN, BBC, NPR, and Al Jazeera.

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Ulvi Ismayil

Ulvi Ismayil

Ulvi Ismayil is a historian and researcher, based in Washington, D.C. and originally from Baku. He works with international development organizations such as UNHCR and USAID and has been involved in Azerbaijan-Armenian peace-making multilateral projects since 2004. He has written on the subject and has even developed his own peace proposal. Ulvi was a co-author of a joint petition drafted in 2014 calling the sides to observe peace along the line of contact.

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Vahagn Melikian

Vahagn Melikian

Mr. Vahagn Melikian is a seasoned Armenian diplomat with a career spanning over three decades. Melikian has held numerous key positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His notable roles include serving as Secretary General of the Ministry from 2018 to 2021 and Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Diaspora from 2015 to 2018. Melikyan’s ambassadorial appointments have been extensive, representing Armenia in countries such as Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, and the United Arab Emirates.

Melikian’s contributions to diplomacy have been recognized through several prestigious awards, including the Commemorative Medal of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Gilded Coin of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Grand Cross of the Order of May from Argentina, the Mkhitar Gosh Medal, and the second-class Medal of Services to the Motherland. Fluent in English, Russian, French, and Arabic, he has significantly advanced Armenia’s diplomatic relations and international presence.

Vahagn Melikian is a founding member of the Pan-Armenian Diplomatic Council. Melikian is married and has two children.

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Vahram Ter-Matevosyan

Vahram Ter-Matevosyan

__ Dr. Vahram Ter-Matevosyan__ is a Professor at the College of Humanities and Social Sciences of the American University of Armenia. His expertise lies in the political history of Turkey, Kemalism, political Islam, and the foreign and security policies of the South Caucasus nations. He earned his Doctorate from the University of Bergen in Norway. He has authored two monographs and more than a dozen book chapters and research articles which have been published in edited volumes by Routledge and Springer, as well as in peer-reviewed journals such as Nations and Nationalism, Third World Quarterly, Europe-Asia Studies, Turkish Studies, Middle Eastern Studies, and Digest of Middle East Studies

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Vardan Aramyan

Vardan Aramyan

Mr. Vardan Aramyan is a former Minister of Finance of the Republic of Armenia, serving from 2016-2018. He is currently Senior VP of Finance and Economy at Vallex Group in Yerevan.

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Vartan Oskanian

Vartan Oskanian

Mr. Vartan Oskanian was the minister of foreign affairs of the Republic of Armenia from 1998 to 2008.

Varuzhan Geghamyan

Varuzhan Geghamyan

Prof. Varuzhan Geghamyan is assistant professor at Yerevan State University’s Department of Oriental Studies, teaching courses on Turkey’s modern history, History of Azerbaijan; Sociocultural anthropology of Azerbaijan; Political ideologies and parties in Modern Turkey & History of the Turkish Republic.

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Virginia Davies

Virginia Davies

Entrepreneur and lawyer Virginia Davies is the New York-based founding president of Save Armenian Monuments.

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Warwick Powell

Warwick Powell

Prof. Warwick Powell is Adjunct Professor at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia, and a Senior Fellow at Taihe Institute in Beijing. He is the author of “China, Trust and Digital Supply Chains”. “Dynamics of a Zero Trust World”. His work focuses on digital innovation, technologies, and international political economy.

Dr. Powell is the author of “Thermoeconomics in a Time of Monsters: Rethinking Theory, China and International Geopolitical Economy”.

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William Bairamian

William Bairamian

William Bairamian is the founder and editor of The Armenite. He has written extensively on Armenian politics, culture, and society. He received degrees in international affairs from Columbia University and UCLA.

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Yeghia Tashjian

Yeghia Tashjian

Yeghia Tashjian is an regional analyst and researcher based in Beirut, with expertise in China’s geopolitical and energy security interests in Iran and the Persian Gulf. Currently he is an instructor in International Affairs at the American University of Science and Technology and International and Regional Affairs Cluster Coordinator at the Issam Fares Institute for Public Policy and International Affairs at the American University of Beirut.

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Yeghishe Zakunts

Yeghishe Zakunts

Yeghishe Zakunts is a political activist in Armenia. He fights for the rights of the parents and relatives of Armenian fallen soldiers.

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YoungMin

YoungMin

YoungMin is a traveler and vlogger, who visited Artsakh, Nagorno Karabakh, earlier in 2026. He documented his Artsakh experience in a video on his YouTube channel YoungMin Skies. Artsakh was YoungMin’s 129’th country visited.

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Zaroui Pogossian

Zaroui Pogossian

Prof. Zaroui (Zara) Pogossian is a specialist in medieval Armenian history, culture and religion, especially in relation to other peoples, cultures and religions in West Asia. She is Associate Professor of Byzantine Civilization at the University of Florence, and the Principal Investigator of the prestigious European Research Council project ArmEn: Armenia Entangled: Connectivity and Cultural Encounters in Medieval Eurasia 9th-14th Centuries. Pogossian is the author of a monograph on “The Letter of Love and Concord”, Leiden 2011, editor of several books and author of numerous articles. She has been the recipient of various fellowships, such as from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (Germany), Käte Hamburger Collegium at the Center for Religious Studies (University of Bochum, Germany) and the International Consortium for Research in the Humanities (University of Erlangen, Germany). Prof. Pogossian is a co-founder and co-editor-in-chief of Armeniaca: International Journal of Armenian Studies (first issue in September 2022). She is one of the founding members and general editors of the series Eastern Christian Cultures in Contact (Brepols editors).

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