Michael Rubin is a former Pentagon official whose major research area is the Middle East, with a special focus on Iran, Turkey, Arab politics, Afghanistan and diplomacy. Rubin regularly instructs senior military officers deploying to the Middle East on regional politics, and teaches classes regarding Iran, terrorism, and Arab politics on U.S. aircraft carriers. Rubin has lived in the Islamic Republic of Iran, Yemen, both pre- and post-war Iraq, and spent time with the Taliban before 9/11. Encounter Books will publish his newest book, Dancing with the Devil, a history of U.S. diplomacy with rogue regimes and terrorist groups in early 2014.
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Experience
- Senior Lecturer, Naval Postgraduate School, 2007-present
- Lecturer, Johns Hopkins University, 2010
- Editor, Middle East Quarterly, 2004-2009
- International Election Observer, Bangladesh, 2008
- Political Adviser, Coalition Provisional Authority (Baghdad), 2003-2004
- Staff Adviser, Iran and Iraq, Office of the Secretary of Defense (International Security Affairs), 2002-2004
- Editorial Board, Middle East Intelligence Bulletin, 2001-2002, 2004
- International Affairs Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations, 2002-2003
- Fellow, The Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations, Hebrew University (Jerusalem), 2001-2002
- Fellow, Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs, 2000-2001
- Visiting Lecturer, Universities of Sulaymani, Salahuddin, and Duhok (Iraqi Kurdistan), 2000-2001
- Lecturer, Department of History, Yale University, 1999-2000
- Assistant Editor, Iranian Studies, 1994-1997
Education
Ph.D., history, Yale University
M.A., history, Yale University
B.S., biology, Yale University