NEW YORK—British journalist and activist Tariq Ali will lead a panel discussion on “The New Imperialism: Old Problems, New Challenges” in New York on Friday, May 30. Joining Ali will be David Barsamian, founder and Director of the Colorado-based Alternative Radio, and Neil Smith, Distinguished Professor of Anthropology and Geography at the City University of New York.

This event will serve as the opening plenary of the third annual “Armenians and Progressive Politics” conference. The three panelists will examine the contemporary politics of empire, superpower rivalries, globalization, trade and monetary policies, the exploitative nature of capitalism, and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, the destructive effects of imperialism on small nations will be discussed, as well as alternatives to the current structure.

Conference Panels on May 31

Friday’s plenary will be followed by six panels on Saturday, May 31. These panels will consider topics such as changing Armenian gender roles; the anti-Defamation League and the Armenian Genocide; foreign assistance to Armenia; an Armenian global progressive agenda; unrest in Armenia; and a youth panel on political activism.

Saturday’s schedule will conclude with a plenary entitled “Coalition-Building Among Dispossessed Groups” featuring Ali, Barsamian, and additional panelists.

Friday’s session takes place at 7:30 pm at Mason Hall, Baruch College Performing Arts Center, 17 Lexington Avenue (at East 23rd Street), New York City. Admission is free.

Saturday’s panels and the 5:30 pm closing plenary will all be held at CUNY Graduate Center, 365 Fifth Avenue (at 34th Street), New York City. Panels run from 10 am to 5 pm, with registration beginning at 9:30 am and a one-hour lunch break at noon. Registration costs $15, $10 for students (lunch is not included).

Distinguished Speakers on Imperialism

Tariq Ali is the author of numerous books, including Pirates of the Caribbean: Axis of Hope; Conversations with Edward Said; Bush in Babylon; and Clash of Fundamentalisms: Crusades, Jihads and Modernity. He is a contributor to BBC Radio, the Guardian, and the London Review of Books. He is also editor and a board member of New Left Review.

David Barsamian is also an author, journalist, and lecturer, whose books include Speaking of Empire and Resistance: Conversations with Tariq Ali; Propaganda and Iran; and The Decline and Fall of Public Broadcasting. Barsamian’s articles and interviews appear regularly in the Progessive and Z Magazine.

Neil Smith’s book American Empire: Roosevelt’s Geographer and the Prelude to Globalization won the 2004 Los Angeles Times Book Prize in biography. His most recent work is The Endgame of Globalization.

Armenians and Progressive Politics (formerly “Armenians and the Left”) is an initiative of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation-Eastern USA. The conference is co-sponsored by the Armenian National Committees of New York and New Jersey, The Nation Institute, and CUNY’s Center for Place, Culture, and Politics. Previous participants include Noam Chomsky and Robert Fisk.

For more information, visit the conference website at: www.armenianprogressive.com.