Juan Cole continues to study and write about contemporary Islamic movements, whether mainstream or radical, whether Sunni and Salafi or Shi`ite. He has command of Arabic, Persian and Urdu and reads some Turkish. He has lived in various parts of the Muslim world for nearly 10 years, and continues to travel widely there.
Juan R. I. Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context.
He has been a regular guest on the "PBS NewsHour", and has also appeared on "ABC Nightly News," "Nightline," the "Today Show," "Charlie Rose," "Anderson Cooper 360," "Countdown with Keith Olbermann," "Rachel Maddow," "The Colbert Report," "Democracy Now!" and many others. He has given many radio and press interviews. He has written widely about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia. He has commented extensively on al-Qaeda and the Taliban, theIraq War, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and Iranian domestic struggles and foreign affairs. He has a regular column at Salon.com.
Professor Cole’s most recent book is Engaging the Muslim World (Palgrave Macmillan, March, 2009) and he also recently authored Napoleon’s Egypt: Invading the Middle East (Palgrave Macmillan, 2007).
Juan Cole's talk, titled "Engaging the Muslim World" was recorded April 11, 2011 at the Point Lookout in Northport.
Visit the Mid-Coast Forum on Foreign Relations' website for more details about this talk.