This individual is a guest contributor. MEI is not able to assist with contact requests.
Eric Lob is an associate professor in the Department of Politics and International Relations at Florida International University. His research focuses on the intersection of development and politics in the Middle East. It specifically explores how state and non-state actors in the region instrumentalize development as a soft power mechanism to further their political interests both domestically and internationally. He is the author of the book Iran’s Reconstruction Jihad: Rural Development and Regime Consolidation after 1979 (Cambridge University Press, 2020). Based on interviews and archival research in Iran, the book examines how the Islamic Republic mobilized activists and promoted development in the countryside to consolidate power against its internal and external opponents. The project is based on Lob’s 2013 dissertation at Princeton University that won the Foundation for Iranian Studies annual award for best dissertation and honorable mention for the Association for Iranian Studies biannual Mashayekhi Dissertation Award. His articles have appeared in the International Journal of Middle East Studies, Iranian Studies, Middle East Critique, The Middle East Journal, Third World Quarterly, and others. He has provided commentary on Iran and the Middle East to some of the leading domestic and international media outlets, including The Washington Post, The National Interest, Jadaliyya, Al Jazeera, CBS, NBC, NPR, and PBS. Lob is a Board of Trustees member of the American Institute of Iranian Studies (AIIrS) and a member of the Middle East Studies Association (MESA). Before joining the faculty at Florida International University, he was a postdoctoral research fellow at Brandeis University’s Crown Center for Middle East Studies. Between 2009 and 2011, Lob conducted fieldwork and studied Persian in Iran. He also studied Arabic at Georgetown and Damascus Universities between 2005 and 2007. In 2005, he earned an MA in Middle East and Strategic Studies from Johns Hopkins SAIS.
Languages:
English, Persian/Farsi, Arabic, French
Regions of Expertise:
Iran, Middle East, Africa
Issues of Expertise:
Iran-Middle East, Iran-Africa, Development, Political Economy, Conflict & Security, State-Society Relations, Foreign Policy
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Navy is converting two merchant container ships into vessels capable of carrying and launching combat drones against maritime or coastal targets. For now, Iran’s drone carriers are unlikely to pose a clear and present danger to the U.S., but they possess symbolic significance as a potential tool to defy American initiatives in the Middle East and respond to Israel’s attacks against Iran.
Iran and cryptocurrency: Opportunities and obstacles for the regime
While cryptocurrency may offer Iran the opportunity to bypass sanctions and boost trade, it is by no means a panacea for such outcomes and comes with a host of obstacles, such as price volatility, economic uncertainty, energy consumption, and evolving regulation.
Iran-Venezuela relations: Presidents, postures, and pressures
In June, Iran and Venezuela signed a 20-year road map on cooperation. As much as Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi has wanted to differentiate himself from his predecessor, his Venezuela policy has so far closely resembled that of Hassan Rouhani during the latter’s second term.
On May 17, 2022, Iran inaugurated a drone factory in neighboring Tajikistan, its first drone production facility abroad. With this factory, Iran intends to reinforce bilateral relations and reduce recent tensions with Tajikistan, address shared security concerns on the Afghan border, boost profits in a growing export market, and complicate Israeli efforts to further sabotage its drone program.
Iran-Africa relations under Raisi: Salvaging ties with the continent
Since the beginning of his presidency, Raisi has called for increasing cooperation with Africa. Contrary to popular perception, this is not part of a hegemonic project to further expand Iranian influence in Africa. Rather, it constitutes an effort to reset relations with the continent after his predecessor spent eight years neglecting it.
Since the fall of the Soviet Union and the rise of Vladimir Putin in the 1990s, military and economic relations between Iran and Russia have improved, as their tensions with the West have intensified. One aspect of the relationship that has received little attention is their growing economic and trade cooperation involving the production, export, and import of halal meat and other products since 2015.
During the National Day of Villages and Nomads in Iran on Oct. 6, President Ebrahim Raisi visited Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad Province and spoke about combatting rural deprivation, an issue that has become central to Raisi’s domestic agenda.
