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Juan R. I. Cole is a professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History in the History Department at the University of Michigan. Since 2002, he has become prominent as a media commentator critical of U.S. and Israeli policies in the Middle East. Some of his views expressed in the traditional media and on the Internet have led to continuing controversies, while other work has been accepted as uncontroversial and authoritative.
Education and background
- 1975 B.A. History and Literature of Religions, Northwestern University
- 1978 M.A. Arabic Studies/History, American University in Cairo
- 1984 Ph.D. Islamic Studies, University of California Los Angeles
- 1984-1990 Assistant Professor of History, University of Michigan
- 1990-1995 Associate Professor of History, University of Michigan
- 1992-1995 Director, Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies, University of Michigan
- 1995- Professor of History, University of Michigan
Cole was awarded Fulbright-Hays fellowships to India (1982) and to Egypt (1985-1986). He speaks Arabic (Modern Standard as well as Lebanese and Egyptian dialects), Persian, and Urdu, and is familiar with Turkish. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East .
Career
Academic career
From 1999 until 2004, Juan Cole was the editor of The International Journal of Middle East Studies. He has served in professional offices for the American Institute of Iranian Studies. He was elected president of the Middle East Studies Association of North America in November 2004.
Cole is President and Treasurer of the Global Americana Institute, a group of Middle East Academics who are working to translate the seminal works of American Democracy into various Middle Eastern Languages. The group's web site indicates: "The project will begin with a selected set of passages and essays by Thomas Jefferson on constitutional and governmental issues such as freedom of religion, the separation of powers, inalienable rights, the sovereignty of the people, and so forth."
Extra-academic career
From 2002 onwards, Cole has became increasingly active as a commentator in the UK and US media on topics related to the Middle East. His focus has primarily been Iraq, Iran and Israel. In 2002, Cole started a blog entitled: Informed Comment covering "History, Middle East, South Asia, Religious Studies, and the War on Terror". The blog has won various awards as of April 2006 the most prominent being the 2005 James Aronson Award for Social Justice Journalism from Hunter College. It has also received two 2004 Koufax Awards: the "Best Expert Blog" and the "Best Blog Post".
Cole has published political writings in The Guardian, the San Jose Mercury News, Salon.com, the San Francisco Chronicle, The Boston Review, The Nation, Tikkun, and has appeared on Al Jazeera. In 2004, the U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations requested Cole's testimony at hearings to better understand the situation in Iraq.
Views and controversies
Main article: Views and controversies concerning Juan Cole
Cole's views about Iraq, Israel, and the Middle East generally have attracted lively controversy. He is a staunch critic of the George W. Bush administration's policy in Iraq, in particular the decision to disband the Iraqi Army and the treatment of prisoners in Iraq. Above all he disputes the administration's optimistic tone about Iraq's future and questions the administration's motives. Cole is also a severe critic of Israel's foreign and military policy and its treatment of Palestinians. In particular, he criticizes the nature of America's support for Israel and questions the loyalties of some of Israel's supporters in America, whom he refers to as the "Israel lobby" and "Likudniks." He has been challenged on many points by critics such as Efraim Karsh, Daniel Pipes, and Martin Kramer, and he has responded in turn with a variety of rebuttals.
References
- Juan Cole CV, Juan Cole's Academic Web site, accessed April 23, 2006
- Hitchens, Galloway and Cole, Cole, Juan Informed Comment, September 16, 2005
- Juan Cole @ University of Michigan, Professional Homepage, accessed April 23, 2006
- MESA Board of Directors, MESA of America Website, accessed April 23, 2006
- , Global Americana Institute, accessed May 17, 2006
- Lifetime Awards for Molly Ivins, Anthony Lewis, Editor and Publisher, March 27, 2006
- 2005 Koufax Awards, Kevin Drum, Washington Monthly blog, February 23, 2005.
- Essays and Op-Eds, Juan Cole's Website
- Juan Cole's Senate Testimony Brief, U.S. Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, April 20, 2004
Selected bibliography
- Sacred Space and Holy War: The Politics, Culture and History of Shi`ite Islam (I.B. Tauris, 2002) ISBN 1860647367
- Modernity and the Millennium: The Genesis of the Bahá'í Faith in the Nineteenth Century Middle East (Columbia University Press, 1998) ISBN 0231110812
- Colonialism and Revolution in the Middle East: Social and Cultural Origins of Egypt's `Urabi Movement (Princeton University Press, 1993) ISBN 0691056838
External links
- Juan R. I. Cole Home Page at the University of Michigan
- Informed Comment - Juan Cole's weblog