Amin Tarzi

@AminTarzi1

Research Areas:

Iran, Nuclear, Afghanistan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia

Amin Tarzi is the Director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University (MCU) in Quantico, Virginia. In addition to his directorial responsibilities, Dr. Tarzi supports MCU by providing a resident scholar with expertise in Middle East and South/Central Asia, representing the Marine Corps at various academic and professional forums, teaching at the Marine Corps War College and other Marine Corps and sister service Professional Military Education programs, and mentoring the AfPak Hands Marines assigned to MCU. Prior to joining MCU, he was with Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Regional Analysis team focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan. While working at RFE/RL, he also taught courses in political Islam, cultural intelligence, terrorist organizations and similar topics at the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies. Before joining RFE/RL, Dr. Tarzi worked as a senior research associate for the Middle East at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, where he primarily researched Iran and its missile and nuclear developments and policies and taught a graduate seminar at the Monterey Institute on Middle East security policies and threat perceptions with focus on Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Israel. Dr. Tarzi’s prior experience includes holding the post of Political Advisor to the Saudi Arabian Mission to the United Nations dealing with the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Somalia; the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty extension; Iranian behavior in the United Nations; and Security Council expansion. After his tenure with the Saudi government, Dr. Tarzi held the position of Researcher/Analyst on Iranian affairs at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi.

Dr. Tarzi has appeared in national and international media outlets, including CNN, BBC, NPR, Al-Jazeera, ABC News (including Nightline), CBS, Canadian TV, C-SPAN (including the Washington Journal), and PBS News Hour among others. His commentaries have been published in numerous publications, including The New York Times, U.S. News & World Report, The Christian Science Monitor, The Jerusalem Post, The Daily Star (Beirut), The National Journal, The Asia Times, The Associated Press, Forbes, and Defense News.

Dr. Tarzi has a PhD and an M.A. from the Department of Middle East Studies at New York University. His works include: Taliban and the Crisis in Afghanistan, a co-edited volume with Professor Robert D. Crews of Stanford University (Harvard University Press, 2008) and The Iranian Puzzle Piece: Understanding Iran in the Global Context  (MCU Press, 2009).