Jamsheed K. Choksy is professor of Iranian studies and former director of the Middle Eastern Studies Program at Indiana University. He also is a member of the National Council on the Humanities at the National Endowment for the Humanities. The views expressed here are his own and do not necessarily represent the views of Indiana University, the NCH, the NEH, or the U.S. government.

Blog Entries by Jamsheed K. Choksy

Happy Inauguration Day, Dr. Ahmadinejad: Don't Count on Success

2 Comments | Posted July 31, 2009 | 05:57 PM (EST)


Iran's "re-elected" president faces turmoil of his own making.

Next week, on August 5, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is scheduled to be inaugurated for a second term in office as Iran's president. He faces a hornets' nest. Iran's society is in the worst political turmoil since 1979. Its economy is sliding downward...

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Iran, Protest, and Intelligence: Why Strategic Reports Often Get it Wrong

6 Comments | Posted July 22, 2009 | 03:46 PM (EST)


A major shortcoming of private security firms and official intelligence agencies is that they frequently lack on-the-ground, in-country, sources and do not fully utilize experts who travel to and study the country. Human intelligence is woefully lacking, so too much reliance is placed on signals intelligence. Those organizations under-exploit the...

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Ayatollah Khamenei's Inauspicious 70th Birthday

3 Comments | Posted July 15, 2009 | 10:01 PM (EST)


Iran has a checkered history of clergymen's involvement in politics. Ali Khamenei follows in troubled footsteps.

The Magus Gaumata was stabbed to death for attempting to seize the throne in the late 6th century BCE. The High Magus Kirdir became infamous for persecuting religious minorities in the late 3rd century,...

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Engage Iran's Citizens, Isolate Its Government

17 Comments | Posted July 9, 2009 | 09:06 PM (EST)


Vacillating bolsters the fundamentalist Ayatollahs.

When it comes to grappling with the challenges posed by events in Iran, the Obama administration seems to be at sea. President Obama cited "fixed national security interests" on July 4th as the basis of negotiating with Iran's government despite its increasing unpopularity. A day...

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