The University of Mary Washington will host Amin Tarzi, inaugural director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University, for a lecture on Wednesday, March 30 about the advent of modern political Islam, the rise of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, and countermeasures by the United States and allies.
The talk, “ISIL: Its Origins and the U.S. Response,” will begin at 7:30 p.m. in Monroe Hall, Room 346 and is free and open to the public.
With expertise in Middle East and South/Central Asia, Tarzi represents the Marine Corps at various academic and professional forums, providing expert advice for all professional military education programs, and mentoring the AfPak Hands Marines assigned to Marine Corps University (MCU).
Tarzi has taught courses in political Islam, cultural intelligence, terrorist organizations and graduate seminars on Middle East security policies and threat perceptions with a focus on Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Israel. He also worked as 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. He has served as the political adviser to the Saudi Arabian Mission to the United Nations dealing with the conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan, the Balkans and Somalia; the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty (NPT) extension; Iranian behavior in the United Nations; and Security Council expansion.
Tarzi has appeared in national and international media outlets, including CNN, BBC, NPR, Al-Jazeera, ABC News, CBS, Canadian TV, C-SPAN, Radio Netherlands and PBS News Hour. 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 National Journal, The Asia Times, The Associated Press, Forbes and Defense News.
Tarzi earned a doctorate and master’s degree from the Department of Middle East Studies at New York University.
For more information, please contact Tyler Bugbee at tbugbee@mail.umw.edu.
