Johns Hopkins UniversityEst. 1876
America’s First Research University
Vali R. Nasr
Majid Khadduri Professor of Middle East Studies and International Affairs
About
Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), and Non-Resident Senior Advisor in the Middle East Program at CSIS. He served as the eighth Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS between 2012 and 2019 and served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke between 2009 and 2011.
Professor Nasr is the author of Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History, The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat; Forces of Fortune: The Rise of a New Middle Class and How it Will Change Our World; The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future; Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty; Islamic Leviathan, Islam and the Making of State Power; Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism; Vanguard of Islamic Revolution: Jama'at-i Islami of Pakistan, and co-author of How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare; as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals and commentary in Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.
He has advised senior American policymakers, world leaders, and businesses, including the President, Secretary of State, senior members of the Congress, and presidential campaigns. He has written for New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among others.
Professor Nasr serves as the co-director of the SAIS Rethinking Iran Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, the leading hub for fostering a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of contemporary Iran and its regional influence within academia and the public sphere. He is a member of the International Board of Advisors of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, the International Board of Advisors at the American University of Beirut, the Global Board of Trustees of Asia Society, and he is on the Board of Advisors of Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He has been the recipient of grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, and was named a 2006 Carnegie Scholar, and holds the 2024-25 Henry Alfred Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.
He received his BA from Tufts University in International Relations summa cum laude and was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa in 1983. He earned his master's from the Fletcher School of Law in and Diplomacy in international economics and Middle East studies in 1984, and his PhD from MIT in political science in 1991.
Professor Nasr is the author of Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History, The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat; Forces of Fortune: The Rise of a New Middle Class and How it Will Change Our World; The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future; Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty; Islamic Leviathan, Islam and the Making of State Power; Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism; Vanguard of Islamic Revolution: Jama'at-i Islami of Pakistan, and co-author of How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare; as well as numerous articles in scholarly journals and commentary in Financial Times, Foreign Affairs, Foreign Policy, New York Times, Washington Post, and Wall Street Journal.
He has advised senior American policymakers, world leaders, and businesses, including the President, Secretary of State, senior members of the Congress, and presidential campaigns. He has written for New York Times, Foreign Affairs, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, and The Washington Post, among others.
Professor Nasr serves as the co-director of the SAIS Rethinking Iran Initiative at Johns Hopkins University, the leading hub for fostering a comprehensive and nuanced understanding of contemporary Iran and its regional influence within academia and the public sphere. He is a member of the International Board of Advisors of the Blavatnik School of Government at Oxford University, the International Board of Advisors at the American University of Beirut, the Global Board of Trustees of Asia Society, and he is on the Board of Advisors of Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. He has been the recipient of grants from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, and the Social Science Research Council, and was named a 2006 Carnegie Scholar, and holds the 2024-25 Henry Alfred Kissinger Chair in Foreign Policy and International Relations at The John W. Kluge Center at the Library of Congress.
He received his BA from Tufts University in International Relations summa cum laude and was initiated into Phi Beta Kappa in 1983. He earned his master's from the Fletcher School of Law in and Diplomacy in international economics and Middle East studies in 1984, and his PhD from MIT in political science in 1991.
Nasr, V. (2025). Iran's Grand Strategy: A Political History. Princeton University Press
Bajoghli, N., Nasr, V., Salehi-Isfahani, D., and Vaez, A. (2024). How Sanctions Work: Iran and the Impact of Economic Warfare. Stanford University Press
Nasr, V. (2016). The Shia Revival: How Conflicts within Islam will Shape the Future. W. W. Norton & Company
Nasr, V. (2014). The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat. Anchor.
Nasr, V. (2009). Forces of Fortune: The Rise of a New Middle Class and How it Will Change Our World. Free Press
Gheissari, A and Nasr, V. (2006). Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty. Oxford University Press
Nasr, V. (2001). Islamic Leviathan, Islam and the Making of State Power. Oxford University Press
Nasr, V. (1996). Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism. Oxford University Press
Nasr, V. (1994). Vanguard of Islamic Revolution: Jama’at-i Islami of Pakistan. University of California Press
In the News
Scholar Discusses Iranian Regime Rejecting Second Round of Talks with The U.S.
Vali Nasr, NPR, April 20, 2026
“Gulf of Trust” Between Iran & U.S. as End of Ceasefire Nears, Peace Talks Uncertain
Vali Nasr, Democracy Now, April 20, 2026
"A War Launched on Assumptions That Proved Wrong:" Vali Nasr on Miscalculations in the U.S.-Israel War with Iran
Vali Nasr, DAWN, April 10, 2026
World Leaders Push to Save Iran Talks Amid Israel’s Attacks in Lebanon
Vali Nasr, The New York Times, April 10, 2026
Iran Expert Discusses Whether the War Has Made the Iranian Regime Stronger
Vali Nasr, NPR, April 9, 2026