Vali Nasr

Vali Reza Nasr (b. 1960) is an Iranian-American academic and scholar, as well as Professor of International Politics at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy of Tufts University.

An expert in contemporary Middle Eastern affairs and Islam and politics, in January, 2006, Nasr was named the Adjunct Senior Fellow for Middle Eastern Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations, a nonpartisan think-tank focusing on foreign policy. He is also a Senior Fellow with The Dubai Initiative, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He was named Carnegie Scholar in 2006.

He was born in 1960 in Tehran. His father, Seyyed Hossein Nasr, is an Islamic philosopher, historian of science, and a University Professor of Islamic Studies at The George Washington University. He was educated at Tufts University, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and M.I.T., where he received his Ph.D. in Political Science in 1991.

Nasr is the author of The Shia Revival, The Islamic Leviathan, Democracy in Iran, The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution: The Jama`at-i Islami of Pakistan, and Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism. His has work on Islamic activism in Pakistan, and more recently also on Iran and the Arab world. His work on the role of states in Islamization and evolution new democratic ideas in the Muslim world presented new analysis. He has been engaged in debates in the Muslim world on Islam and democracy and accommodating modernity. His most influential work has been on the importance of sectarian identity in Middle East politics and the growing importance of Shia politics following the Iraq war, which he was one of the first to identify.

In August 2006, Nasr briefed President Bush on the dynamics of sectarian violence in Iraq.[1]. He has also testified before the U.S. Senate and advised members of both houses of the Congress on Middle East issues. In 2007-08 he served as an adviser to presidential candidates.

Nasr is married to Darya, a technology executive, and has three children, sons Amir and Hossein, and daughter Donia. They reside in La Jolla, CA, a suburb of San Diego.

Recent Works

• The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam will Shape the Future (W.W. Norton & Company, 2006)[2]
• Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty (coauthor, Oxford University Press, 2006)[3]
• The Islamic Leviathan: Islam and the Making of State Power (Oxford University Press, 2001)[4]
• Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism (Oxford University Press, 1996)[5]
• The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution: The Jama`at-i Islami of Pakistan (University of California Press, 1994)[6]
• Oxford Dictionary of Islam (editor, Oxford University Press, 2003)[7]
• Expectation of the Millennium: Shi'ism in History (coeditor, State University of New York Press, 1989)[8]
• "When Shiites Rise" from Foreign Affairs
• "The Cost of Containing Iran" (coauthor) from Foreign Affairs
• "Who Wins in Iraq? Iran" from Foreign Policy
• "The Rise of Muslim Democracy" from Journal of Democracy
• "The Conservative Consolidation in Iran" from Survival
• "The Regional Implications of Shi'a Revival in Iraq" from The Washington Quarterly
• "Iran’s Peculiar Election: The Conservative Wave Rolls On" from Journal of Democracy
• "The Democracy Debate in Iran" (coauthor) from Middle East Policy Journal
• "Military Rule, Islamism, and Democracy in Pakistan" from The Middle East Journal
• "Lessons from the Muslim World" from Dædalus

See also

• Council on Foreign Relations

External links

• Nasr's Council on Foreign Relations bio
• Nasr's Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy bio

Interviews

• Islam and the State Interview for the Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley
• Saudi Time Bomb? Interview with Vali Nasr from PBS' Frontline.
• Showdown with Iran Interview with Vali Nasr from PBS' Frontline.
• A Discussion of the New Intelligence on Iran Interview with Vali Nasr from PBS' Charlie Rose.
• [2] Webcast of Vali Nasr's interview with Jon Stewart on the Daily Show
• [3] Webcast of Vali Nasr's interview on the Colbert Report
• [4] Webcast of Vali Nasr at the World Economic Forum 2007
• [5] Video of Vali Nasr interview on The Charlie Rose Show
• [6] Webcast of Vali Nasr interview on PBS's Wide Angle

Other articles

• Pew Forum on Islam and Democracy
• Pew Forum on Revival of Shia Islam
• How to Squeeze Jihadi Culture Out of Pakistan Opinion Piece by Vali Nasr in The Christian Science Monitor on the challenges facing the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.
• Musharraf Fears Democracy Not Extremism Opinion Piece by Vali Nasr in The Christian Science Monitor on the challenges facing the U.S.-Pakistan relationship.
• Get Iran Inside the Tent Opinion Piece by Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh in International Herald Tribune on U.S.-Iran relations.
• The Iran Option That Isn't on the Table Opinion piece by Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh in the Washington Post on how the integration of Iran into the Global Economy is more important and effective in democratizing Iran than Containment and support of dissidents (February 8, 2007)
• What We Can Learn From Britain About Iran Opinion Piece by Vali Nasr and Ray Takeyh in the New York Times on U.S.-Iran relation
• Sects and Violence Opinion Piece by Vali Nasr in the New York Times on sectarian violence in Iraq
• Foxes in Iran's Henhouse Opinion Piece by Vali Nasr and Ali Gheissari in the New York Times on political rise of the Revolutionary Guards in Iran