The Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding, in partnership with the Institute for the Study of Diplomacy, is hosting Vali Nasr, Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies (Johns Hopkins-SAIS), for a talk titled “After the Israel-Iran War: Iran’s Grand Strategy with Vali Nasr” on Monday, September 15 at 4pm at the Mortara Center (located at 3600 N Street NW).
Description
The Israel-Iran war dramatically highlights the critical importance of understanding the national security motives of one of the most complex and consequential actors in international affairs: Iran.
Dr. Vali Nasr’s new book, Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History, sheds new light on the politics and foreign policy strategy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. Drawing on oral histories, in-depth interviews with Iranian decision-makers, and decades of regional expertise, Dr. Nasr argues that beneath the ideological surface of the Islamic Republic lies a pragmatic and calculated pursuit of power, driven by national security concerns and shaped by decades of conflict and isolation. The book offers a vital framework for understanding Iran’s nuclear posture, its regional influence through proxy networks, and its enduring resistance to the United States. Book-signing and reception to follow.
Speaker
Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at Johns Hopkins-SAIS. Between 2012 and 2019 he served as the Dean of the School, and between 2009 and 2011 as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke. Nasr is the author of several books including, Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History; How Sanctions Work, Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare; The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat; The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future; and Democracy in Iran. His commentary has appeared in The New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post. He is a member of Global Board of Trustees of Asia Society, the recipient of Carnegie Scholar Award, and the Frank Guggenheim, and MacArthur Foundation research fellowships. He was selected as Henry Alfred Kissinger Distinguished Scholar at Library of Congress for 2024-25.
Moderator
Nader Hashemi is the Director of the Alwaleed Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding and an Associate Professor of Middle East and Islamic Politics at the Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University. He is the author of Islam, Secularism and Liberal Democracy: Toward a Democratic Theory for Muslim Societies (Oxford University Press, 2009) and co-editor of The People Reloaded: The Green Movement and the Struggle for Iran’s Future (Melville House, 2011), The Syria Dilemma (MIT Press, 2013), Sectarianization: Mapping the New Politics of the Middle East (Oxford University Press, 2017) and a four-volume study on Islam and Human Rights: Critical Concepts in Islamic Studies (Routledge, 2023). He is frequently interviewed by PBS, NPR, CNN, Al Jazeera, Pacifica Radio, Alternative Radio and the BBC and his writings have appeared in the New York Times, Newsweek, Wall Street Journal, The Nation, Al Jazeera Online, CNN.com among other media outlets.
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