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Contact Info:
Phone: +1.202.509.8432
E-mail: rtakeyh@cfr.org
Location:
Washington, DC
Media downloads:
One-page bio (PDF, 53K)
Video clip (MP4, 1.4 MB)
Video clip (WMV, 817K)
Author of The Guardians of the Revolution: Iran's Approach to the World (Oxford University Press, May 2009). Served as senior adviser to the special adviser for the Gulf and Southwest Asia at the U.S. Department of State.
Expertise:Iran; Persian Gulf and U.S. foreign policy.
Experience:Senior adviser to special adviser for Gulf and Southwest Asia, Department of State; Contributing Editor, National Interest; Professor of National Security Studies, National War College; Professor and Director of Studies, Near East and South Asia Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University; Fellow in International Security Studies, Yale University; Fellow, Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
Languages:Persian (fluent); Arabic (working knowledge).
Honors:John M. Olin Fellowship; Sir Raymond Carr Award; Arnold Bryce and Read Award in Modern History, Oxford University.
Selected Publications:Hidden Iran: Paradox and Power in the Islamic Republic (Henry Holt, 2006); The Receding Shadow of the Prophet: The Rise and Fall of Radical Political Islam (Praeger Publishers, 2004); The Origins of the Eisenhower Doctrine: The United States, Britain and Nasser’s Egypt, 1953-1957 (St. Martin's Press, 2000); articles published in Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, National Interest, Survival, Washington Quarterly, Orbis, World Policy Journal, Middle East Journal, Middle East Policy, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Financial Times, International Herald Tribune.
Current Research Projects
November 5, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Ray Takeyh writes that the Iranian administration is diverting attention to its nuclear program as a way to avoid scrutiny of its attempts to squash democratic dissent within Iran.
See more in Iran, Democracy and Human Rights, Proliferation
October 7, 2009
Op-Ed
The Boston Globe
Ray Takeyh writes that although the Obama administration's diplomacy has not always yielded the desired results, it is crucial to building international support for American policies.
See more in International Peace and Security, Diplomacy, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 27, 2009
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Ray Takeyh writes "for the Obama administration, which has made engaging with adversarial states a principle of its foreign policy, one of the biggest challenges will not be a belligerent Iran, but a disingenuous one."
See more in Iran, Proliferation
September 22, 2009
Audio
Listen to Ray Takeyh, CFR's senior fellow for middle eastern studies, and James Lindsay, CFR's director of studies, discuss nuclear proliferation and Iran's nuclear program in advance of high-level talks at the United Nations.
See more in Iran, International Organizations, Proliferation
September 22, 2009
Transcript
Ray Takeyh and James M. Lindsay discuss Iran and nonproliferation.
See more in Iran, Proliferation
September 8, 2009
Interview
Amid Tehran's fresh assertions of its right to pursue uranium enrichment, CFR's Ray Takeyh says the widening split in Iran's political system casts greater doubt on prospects for nuclear talks with the West.
See more in Iran, Weapons of Mass Destruction, U.S. Strategy and Politics
May 2009
Book
For over a quarter-century, Iran has been one of America's chief nemeses. But as Ray Takeyh shows in this accessible and authoritative history of Iran's relations with the world since the revolution, behind the famous personalities and extremist slogans is a nation that is far more pragmatic—and complex—than many in the West have been led to believe.
See more in Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics
December 29, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Ray Takeyh looks at what Iran would hope to achieve through talks with the United States.
See more in Middle East, Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics
September 6, 2008
Op-Ed
The Boston Globe
Ray Takeyh and Nikolas Gvosdev argue that "Russia’s assault on Georgia may produce no measurable change of its Iran policy."
See more in Russian Fed., Iran
September 5, 2008
Transcript
Symposium on Iran focusing on policy options and recommendations for the next administration.
See more in Iran, Economics, Society and Culture
September 5, 2008
Audio
Listen to experts discuss current U.S. policy toward Iran and options for the next administration.
See more in Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
September 5, 2008
Video
Watch experts discuss current U.S. policy toward Iran and options for the next administration.
See more in Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics, U.S. Election 2008
July 15, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
The events of the past eight years have brought the Middle East to a precipice, write Richard Clarke, Steve Simon, and Ray Takeyh. To deal with this situation, America will need a president of intellectual independence, strategic flexibility and considerable political imagination.
See more in Middle East, International Peace and Security
May 21, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
President Bush’s recent denunciation of Barack Obama’s foreign policy was wrong, argue Charles Kupchan and Ray Takeyh. Instead, they defend the Senator’s policies as being “hard-headed realism,” pointing to the historical record as evidence that engaging international rivals is a proven method of resolving conflicts.
See more in Diplomacy, Presidency
May 18, 2008
Op-Ed
Washington Post
Ray Takeyh discusses the Bush administration’s “hopelessly defective” strategies to mitigate the Iranian nuclear program and offers an alternative.
See more in Iran, Arms Control and Disarmament
April 15, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Iran’s overarching aim is to prevent Iraq from again emerging as a military or ideological threat, argues Ray Takeyh.
See more in United States, Iran, Iraq
April 13, 2008
Op-Ed
The Boston Globe
Ray Takeyh and Nikolas Gvosdev discuss how the United States can work with countries whose behavior it may not condone.
See more in United States, China, Iran, U.S. Strategy and Politics
March 13, 2008
Op-Ed
International Herald Tribune
Ray Takeyh states that, “Whatever the composition of the new Parliament, and whoever succeeds the office of the presidency next year, Iran has entered the age when a single mullah dominates all institutions and arbitrates all debates.”
See more in Iran, Elections, Nation Building
March 4, 2008
Op-Ed
Los Angeles Times
Charles A. Kupchan and Ray Takeyh argue that “despite the tightening of U.N. sanctions, the West’s efforts to contain Iran are crumbling where it matters most: in the Middle East.”
See more in Middle East, Iran, International Organizations, Conflict Assessment, Weapons of Mass Destruction
February 27, 2008
Op-Ed
Financial Times
The path is now to recognize this success and resume our relationship with Iran, says Ray Takeyh.
See more in Iran, Arms Control and Disarmament
Explore the international finance regime with a new interactive from CFR's program on International Institutions and Global Governance.
Identifying international threats and acting on them may be the most difficult job for U.S. policymakers. This report
provides an actionable road map for managing international threats before they erupt into crises and makes a strong case that preventive action is not a luxury but a necessity.
For more than a decade, the United States has mostly watched from the sidelines as Asian countries organize themselves into an alphabet soup of new multilateral groups. In this report, the authors review the relationship between pan-Asian and trans-Pacific institutions and suggest policy guidelines for a new U.S. approach to this new Asian landscape.
Complete list of Council Special Reports
Start-Up Nation addresses the trillion-dollar question: How is it that Israel—a country of 7.1 million, only sixty years old, surrounded by enemies— produces more start-up companies than large, peaceful, and stable nations like Japan, China, India, Korea, Canada, and the UK? With the insights of geopolitical experts and investors, the authors examine this nation’s adversity-driven culture to answer this question and offer prescriptions for a global economy on the rebound.
In Forces of Fortune, Vali Nasr presents a paradigm-changing revelation that will transform the understanding of the Muslim world at large. He reveals that there is a vital but unseen rising force in the Islamic world—a new business-minded middle class—that is building a vibrant new Muslim world economy and that holds the key to winning the cold war against Iran and extremists.
In Cuba: What Everyone Needs to Know, Julia E. Sweig presents a remarkably accessible portrait of Cuba's unique place on the world stage over the past fifty years, including its internal politics, its often fraught relationship with the United States, and its shifting relationship with the global community.
Complete list of CFR Books
For more information on the David Rockefeller Studies Program, contact:
James M. Lindsay
Senior Vice President, Director of Studies, and Maurice R. Greenberg Chair
+1.212.434.9626 (NY); +1.202.509.8405 (DC)
jlindsay@cfr.org
Janine Hill
Deputy Director of Studies Administration
+1.212.434.9753
jhill@cfr.org
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