POLICY FORUM ARMENIA

Better Policies. Better Future.

Biographies of Presenters

Susan Karamanian           

Susan Karamanian is the Associate Dean for International and Comparative Legal Studies Program at the George Washington University. A former Rhodes Scholar, Dean Karamanian is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and a fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She is also an active member of the American Society of International Law. In 2009, she was elected President of the Washington Foreign Law Society. Dean Karamanian joined GWU law school after a 14-year career at Locke Liddell & Sapp, LLP in Dallas, Texas where she has represented foreign and domestic clients in international disputes. She has received her J.D. from University of Texas, and B.A. from Oxford University.

Henry Theriault

Henry Theriault is a Professor of Philosophy at Worcester State College, where he has taught since 1998. His teaching and research interests include courses on Genocide and Human Rights, Long-Term Justice for Mass Violence, Mass Violence Against Women, Ideology and Propaganda, Ethics, and Political Philosophy. Since 2007 he has served as Co-Editor-in-Chief of the peer-reviewed journal Genocide Studies and Prevention and has been on the Advisory Council of the International Association of Genocide Scholars. Professor Theriault's research focuses on philosophical approaches to genocide issues, especially genocide denial, long-term justice, and ethical analyses of perpetrator motivations. He has served as coordinator of the Worcester State College's Center for the Study of Human Rights and lectured widely in the United States and internationally. Professor Theriault earned his Ph.D. in Philosophy from the University of Massachusetts with a specialization in social and political philosophy.

Gregory Aftandilian

Gregory Aftandilian is an independent consultant specializing in Middle East affairs. At various times since mid-1980s, Mr. Aftandilian has served a senior staffer at the International Economic Policy Subcommittee of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, foreign policy adviser to Senators Paul Sarbanes and Senator Edward Kennedy, and Congressman Chris Van Hollen. He also served as a Middle East Analyst at the Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research from 1988 to 2000. Additionally, Mr. Aftandilian has served as a Senior Adviser on Middle East affairs at the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs and as a fellow with International Security Program at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at the Harvard University. He has received his M.S. in International Relations from London School of Economics and M.A. in Middle Eastern Studies from University of Chicago.