Juan Cole

Reuters makes a good point that Iran is having difficulty getting the international community to condemn the terrorist attacks against its scientists, which over time have left four of them dead in bombings. Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan Behdast, a professor at Tehran’s technical university, was killed yesterday. Behdast was aged 32 and had been a chemistry […]

Part 3 of Juan Cole’s talk on the Arab Spring at the American Historical Association: Parts 1 & 2 are here

The announcement of the Iranian government that it will activate its Fordow nuclear enrichment site has predictably drawn forth a new round of war propaganda from the Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. In contrast, the Chinese media accurately report Iran’s affirmation that the new site will be subject to UN inspections and so is perfectly […]

Part 2 of my talk at the American Historical Association on the Arab Spring. Part 1 is here

Welcome to an edgy world where a single incident at an energy “chokepoint” could set a region aflame, provoking bloody encounters, boosting oil prices, and putting the global economy at risk.

Anouar Majid writes in a guest column for Informed Comment: “Why America Matters to Muslims One thing that is striking about the recent revolts in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, and Bahrain is the absence of any anti-American slogans or denunciations of the Great Satan, as the Iranian regime refers to Uncle Sam. On the […]

Part 1 of my presentation on the Arab Spring at the 2012 American Historical Association conference in Chicago. Thanks to Roger Owen and the National History Centerfor the kind invitation, and to respondents Leila Fawaz, Carolyn Eisenberg, and David Moburg. And to Rick Schenkman and the History News Network for the recording.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun a four-nation tour in Latin America that will include Nicaragua, Cuba, Venezuela and Ecuador. In part, the trip is for propaganda purposes. With the European Union joining in an Israeli-inspired US boycott of Iran’s Central Bank, which in essence translates into a boycott of buying Iranian petroleum, Tehran is […]