Shireen Hunter

Shireen Tahmaaseb Hunter (born in Tabriz, Iran) is Research Professor at the Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., with which she has been associated since 2005, as Visiting Fellow and then Visiting Professor. She was at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington from 1983 to 2005, as Director of the Islam Program, 1998-2005, Deputy Director of the Middle East Program, 1983-1992, and Senior Associate (while in Brussels), 1993-1998. She also taught courses at Georgetown, George Mason University, and Washington College. She was Academic Fellow at Carnegie Corporation.

From 1993-1997, Dr. Hunter was Visiting Senior Fellow at the Centre for European Policy Studies (CEPS) in Brussels and directed CEPS' Mediterranean Program. She was Guest Scholar at the Brookings Institution and Research Fellow at the Harvard University Center for International Affairs.

Shireen Hunter was the first woman in the Iranian Foreign Service, from 1966-1978, serving abroad in London and Geneva. She attained the rank of Counselor and served from time-to-time as Chargé d'Affaires of Iran’s UN Mission in Geneva. In addition to her books (below), she has published more than 500 monographs, chapters in books, and articles, and lectured widely in the United States at home and abroad at universities, research institutes, world affairs councils, the State Department, and military commands. She also has extensive media experience.

Dr. Hunter was educated at Teheran University (BA and all-but-thesis for a doctorate in international law, 1965 & 1967), the London School of Economics (MSc in international relations, 1979), and the Institut Universitaire de Hautes Etudes Internationales in Geneva (PhD in international relations, 1983). A US citizen, she is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. She speaks English, French, Azerbaijani, and Persian.

Books by Shireen Hunter

• Iran Divided: Historic Roots of Iranian Debates in Identity, Culture and Governance in the 21st Century, Rowman & Littlefield, September 2014.
• Iran’s Foreign Policy in the Post-Soviet Era, Resisting the New International Order, Praeger, 2010.
• Reformist Voices of Islam : Mediating Islam and Modernity (editor and contributor), M.E. Sharpe, June 2008.
• Islam and Human Rights: Advancing a US-Muslim Dialogue (co-editor), CSIS Press, 2005.
• Modernization, Democracy, and Islam (co-editor and contributor), Praeger, 2005 (Translated into Persian.)
• Islam in Russia: The Politics of Identity and Security, M.E. Sharpe, 2004.
• Strategic Developments in Eurasia After September 11 (editor), Frank Cass, 2003.
• Islam: Europe’s Second Religion (editor and contributor), Praeger, 2002.
• The Future of Islam-West Relations: Clash of Civilizations or Peaceful Coexistence?, CSIS/Praeger, 1998. (Translated into Persian and Arabic.)
• Central Asia Since Independence, CSIS/Westview Press, 1996.
• The Transcaucasus in Transition: Nation-Building and Conflict, CSIS/Praeger, 1994.
• Iran After Khomeini, Praeger, 1992.
• Iran and the World: Continuity in a Revolutionary Decade, Indiana University Press, 1990.
• The Politics of Islamic Revivalism: Diversity and Unity (editor and contributor), Indiana University Press, 1988.
• U.S. and the Middle East: Emerging Economic and Political Trends (editor), Westview Press, July 1985.
• OPEC and the Third World: The Politics of Aid, Croom Helm Ltd. and Indiana University Press, 1984.