Reza H. Akbari is a Program Manager at the Institute for War and Peace Reporting* and a PhD candidate at American University where he studies the history of modern Middle East, modern Iran, and critical theory. Reza conducts research on state-society relations, social movements, political parties, Iranian domestic politics, political transition, and U.S. foreign policy toward the Middle East. He has previously served as a Research Associate for the Iran Program at the Middle East Institute and a Research Assistant at the Woodrow Center. He also writes The Guarded Domains, a Substack newsletter focused on Iran and the broader Middle East region.

Reza’s commentary has appeared on The Washington Post, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Newsweek, Time, Al Jazeera, Deutsche Welle, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, CBS MoneyWatch, and L'Orient-Le Jour. Reza has written for a number of publications such as Foreign Policy, the Guardian, PBS – Tehran Bureau, Jadaliyya, Gulf News, Al Monitor, and LobeLog.

Reza holds an M.A. in Middle East Studies from The George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs and a B.A. in Political Science and International Studies from the State University of New York at Fredonia. His master’s thesis (PDF) explores the potential for political reconciliation in Bahrain.

* This is a personal weblog. The writings and opinions expressed here represent my own and not those of my employer or any other affiliated organizations.