Book Talk: Iran’s Rise and Rivalry with the US in the Middle East
Date and Time
Apr 3, 2025 6:00 pm
Location
14th & V
2021 14th St NW, Washington, District of Columbia, 20009
Apr 3, 2025 6:00 pm
14th & V
Book Talk: Iran’s Rise and Rivalry with the US in the Middle East - A book talk with Professor Mohsen Milani, moderated by Negar Mortazavi.
The 1979 Islamic Revolution triggered a cold war between Iran and the United States – former fast friends. Despite the US’s relentless efforts at containment, Iran has risen as a formidable power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza. Its newfound status not only frustrates the US but has swiftly become a thorn in the side of Israel and Saudi Arabia. How did Iran rise so rapidly? And as it faces ever increasing pressure at home and abroad, can it hold onto its power? Mohsen Milani guides us through the twists and turns of the Iran–US rivalry in the battlefields of the Middle East. Going from the fall of the Shah to revolutionary Iran’s alliances with Syria, Hamas, Hezbollah, Iraqi militias, and the Houthis in the Axis of Resistance, Milani lifts the veil on Iran’s foreign policy strategy and its implications for the region, the US and Iran itself.
About the author:
Mohsen Milani is the Executive Director of the Center for Strategic & Diplomatic Studies and Professor of Politics at the University of South Florida. He served as a department chairman at that University from 1998 to 2012. He has served as a fellow at Harvard, Oxford, and Foscari University (Italy). Professor Milani has authored more than 60 publications, including many in top peer-reviewed academic journals and popular journals. His book, The Making of Iran’s Islamic Revolution, has been used as required reading in many universities in the U.S., Europe, Japan, Canada, and Iran. His recent publications include “Iran’s Strategy in the Syrian Civil War” (The Washington Quarterly, Fall 2013), and the following pieces in Foreign Affairs: “What If at First Rouhani Doesn’t Succeed,” “Rouhani’s Foreign Policy,” “The Ayatollah’s Game Plan,” “Meet Me in Baghdad,” “Iran’s US Policy,” and “Iran and Saudi Arabia Square Off.” He has written about Iran’s policy toward Afghanistan (The Middle East Journal), Iran’s policy toward Iraq (a book chapter by the U.S. Institute of Peace) and “The rise and fall -- and possible rise again -- of Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani,” The Atlantic.
