June 10, 2025, 12:00 PM EST - Online
Book Talk | Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History
Vali Nasr in conversation with Trita Parsi.
Why does Iran behave the way it does—and what does the West still misunderstand?
Join us for a compelling conversation between Vali Nasr, one of the most influential voices on Middle East geopolitics, and Trita Parsi, executive vice president of the Quincy Institute, as they unpack Nasr’s provocative new book, Iran’s Grand Strategy: A Political History.
In this landmark work, Nasr dismantles the myth of Iran as an irrational, ideologically driven state. Instead, he traces a coldly pragmatic strategy shaped by war, isolation, and existential fear. Drawing on rare interviews with Iranian insiders, Nasr reveals how Tehran’s foreign policy—its pursuit of nuclear capability, its forward defense, its defiance of U.S. power—is animated not by dogma but by the logic of survival and the scars of history.
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Join us for a timely and important discussion with:
Vali Nasr - Vali Nasr is the Majid Khadduri Professor of International Affairs and Middle East Studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). He served as the eighth Dean of Johns Hopkins SAIS between 2012-2019 and served as Senior Advisor to U.S. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Ambassador Richard Holbrooke between 2009-2011.
Trita Parsi (Moderator) - Trita Parsi is the executive vice president of the Quincy Institute. He was the 2010 recipient of the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order and was named by the Washingtonian Magazine as one of the 25 most influential voices on foreign policy in Washington D.C. in both 2021 and 2022. Parsi is an expert on the geopolitics of the Middle East.