Guests of Groong Podcast

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.

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.

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.

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:

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.

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).

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.

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.