Juan Cole on Iraq

Juan Cole, Author of "Informed Comment"

Iraq: How did we get into this mess and where do we go from here?

Juan Cole is a Professor of Modern Middle East and South Asian History at the History Department of the University of Michigan. He has written extensively about modern Islamic movements in Egypt, the Persian Gulf, and South Asia. His popular weblog "Informed Comment" is well-known for its knowledge and insight. Cole has been a frequent and eloquent anti-war guest on the "NewsHour with Jim Lehrer" and has given numerous media and press interviews on the “War on Terrorism” since September 11, 2001 as well as on the Iraq War of 2003. His current research focuses on two contemporary phenomena, Shiite Islam in Iraq and Iran and the “jihadi” or “sacred-war” strain of Muslim radicalism, including that practiced by al-Qaeda and the Taliban among other groups. Cole commands Arabic, Persian, and Urdu and reads some Turkish, has studied both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam, and has lived in a number of places in the Muslim world for extended periods of time. His most recent book is _Sacred Space and Holy War_.

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