Kaveh L. Afrasiabi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A major contributor to this article appears to have a conflict of interest with its subject. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Please discuss further on the talk page. (June 2009)

This biographical article needs additional citations for verification. Please help by adding reliable sources. Contentious material about living persons that is unsourced or poorly sourced must be removed immediately, especially if potentially libelous or harmful. (February 2009) (Find sources: Kaveh L. Afrasiabi – news, books, scholar)

Dr Kaveh L. Afrasiabi is a political scientist and author of Iranian origin who has lived for many years in the United States.

Contents 1 Teaching 2 Books 3 Media 3.1 Peace/media activism 4 References

[edit] Teaching

Afrasiabi has taught political science at Tehran University, Boston University, and Bentley College. Afrasiabi has been a visiting scholar at Harvard University, UC Berkeley, Binghamton University, Center For Strategic Research, Tehran and Institute For Strategic Studies^{[clarification needed]} in Paris.

From 1996 to 2003, Afrasiabi was involved in a legal conflict with Roy Mottahedeh, former director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Harvard University, who had been his superior during Afrasiabi's time as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard, and Harvard University itself. The conflict started with an alleged extortion against Mottahedeh's subordinates and a "pre-dawn" arrest of Afrasiabi by Harvard police, and terminated in 2003 with a civil rights case against Harvard, Mottahedeh and his subordinates in the Supreme Court of the United States,^[1][2][3] in which Afrasiabi acted as his own attorney. He was supported by Mike Wallace of the US television program 60 Minutes,^{[citation needed]} author David Mamet,^{[citation needed]} linguist Noam Chomsky,^{[citation needed]} political scientist Howard Zinn^{[citation needed]} and former deputy prime minister of Iran, Farhang Mehr.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Books

Afrasiabi has written several books in relation to Iranian foreign policy and Iran – United States relations, including After Khomeini: New Directions in Iran's Foreign Policy (1994),^[4], Nir/North: A Cinematic Story about the Iran-Contra Affair (1996),^[5] Iran's Nuclear Program: Debating Facts Versus Fiction (2006)^[6] and Reading in Iran's Foreign Policy After September 11 (2008).^[7] Afrasiabi has also written several book chapters on Islam, environment^{[clarification needed]}, and theology, published by Harvard University Press, Chicago University Press and Wadsworth.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Media

Afrasiabi has worked as a consultant to CBS's "60 Minutes" and has appeared on numerous television programs including CNN, MSNBC, Voice of America, and al-jazeera. Afrasiabi is a regular contributor to the New York Times, International Herald Tribune, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Global Dialogue, and Asia Times. Afrasiabi has written hundreds of articles in these and other newspapers and in scholarly journals including Harvard Theological Review, Harvard International Review, UN Chronicle, Brown's Journal of World Affairs, Middle East Journal, Journal of International Affairs, Telos, Mediterannean Affairs. A supporter of president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad^[8] , he has spoken out in support of the fairness of the 2009 presidential election results on CNN^[9] and elsewhere ^[10] and has been critical of protests over the results.^[11] He is also a supporter^{[citation needed]} of Iran's nuclear power program that was launched in the 1950s with the help of the United States as part of the Atoms for Peace program.

[edit] Peace/media activism

Afrasiabi is a former consultant to the United Nations "Dialogue Among Civilizations", for which he interviewed the former Iranian president, Mohammad Khatami^[12] He occasionally contributes to the UN Chronicle on peace and human rights related topics.^[13][14] Afrasiabi is frequently referred to as the director of an non-governmental organisation called Global Interfaith Peace.^[13] On 24 December 2002, he issued a statement on behalf of the organisation in opposition to the risk of an invasion of Iraq.^[15]

[edit] References