The Long War on Iran: Behrooz Ghamari in Conversation with Setareh Shohadaei and Omid Mehrgan
Drawing on two decades of political analysis, The Long War on Iran: New Events, Old Questions explores the history of US intervention in the region, focusing on the enduring sanctions imposed on Iran and the persistent perception of the Islamic Republic as a major obstacle to American power. Despite the repressive policies of the state, Iran has remained a vibrant society with active intellectual, cultural, and social justice movements. The book examines these internal changes and shifts in Iranian politics.
By challenging the conventional image of Iran as a totalitarian regime, Ghamari urges readers to appreciate the country’s diverse society and complex political landscape. He calls for a re-evaluation of how the US engages with Iran, advocating for a more informed, nuanced approach to Middle East diplomacy. At a critical moment when US policy is being reshaped, The Long War on Iran is a timely reminder that, if the US fails to acknowledge Iran’s transformations, both nations will continue to face new events―and the same old questions.
Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi is a visiting scholar at the CPCP and is affiliated with the Elahé Omidyar Mir-Djalali Institute of Iranian Studies at the University of Toronto. He was Professor and Chair of the Department of Near Eastern Studies and Director of the Center for Iran and Persian Gulf Studies at Princeton University from 2020 to 2024. He is the author of three books on different aspects and historical context of the Iranian revolution of 1979 and its aftermath: Islam and Dissent in Post-Revolutionary Iran (2008); Foucault in Iran: Islamic Revolution after the Enlightenment (2016); and Remembering Akbar: Inside the Iranian Revolution, OR Books (2016).
Setareh Shohadaei is a Postdoctoral Faculty Fellow at the Department of Liberal Studies at New York University. She holds a PhD in Political Theory from the New School for Social Research. Her work is situated at the intersections of history of political thought, psychoanalysis, gender studies, and postcolonial theory, where she pursues the question of feminine politics as an antidote to the principle of identity organizing much of contemporary formations of power. Her upcoming manuscript Losing Like a Girl: Feminist Grief and the Phallicism of Identity Politics, is a study of how feminine forms of mourning can offer pathways otherwise than that of alt-right, neoliberal, and intersectional identity politics. Her research has appeared in scholarly publications such as Hypatia and Raisons Politiques. She is also a regular commentator on Iranian politics and culture in outlets such as The Public Seminar and Jaddaliya.
Omid Mehrgan is adjunct assistant professor at New York University, Department of Liberal Studies. He has published on aesthetic theory, the Anthropocene, translation studies, Iranian cinema, and translations of major works in critical theory, including those by Walter Benjamin, Theodor W. Adorno, and James Baldwin in Farsi. His first monograph in English is The Narrowest Path: Antinomies of Self-Determination in Four Aesthetic Studies (2024).
This event is free and open to the public. It is organized by the Center for Place, Culture, and Politics.
