Guests of Groong Podcast

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 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.

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 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.

Lenna Hovanessian

Lenna Hovanessian is a board member of the Armenian Committee of America in the Western Region (ANCA-WR).

Levon Zourabian

Levon Zourabian is the Vice-President of the Armenian National Congress (ANC) party of Armenia, which was the ruling party during the terms in office of first president of Armenia, Levon Ter-Petrosyan in 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.

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.

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.

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.