Arash Reisinezhad is a Visiting Scholar at the Department of Government in the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard University. His research focuses on geopolitical conflicts, geoeconomic corridors, and foreign policy analysis, with a particular emphasis on the Middle East and its broader global implications.
Reisinezhad’s books include The Shah of Iran, the Iraqi Kurds, and the Lebanese Shia, (Palgrave-MacMillan, 2018) and Iran and the New Silk Road (in Persian).
Currently, he is engaged in two major research projects. The first investigates how international and regional corridors, particularly China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), are reshaping the geopolitics of the Middle East. His work challenges the conventional view that economic connectivity inherently fosters stability, instead demonstrating how these corridors often deepen regional divisions and intensify geopolitical rivalries. The second project explores the historical foundations of Iran’s geopolitical strategy, tracing the evolution of its foreign policy over the past two centuries. This study also examines Iran’s connections with non-state actors and its role in shaping contemporary security and strategic landscapes in the Middle East.
Contact
arash_reisinezhad@fas.harvard.edu
1737 Cambridge Street
CGIS South Building, Room 309
Subfields
International Relations
Academic Interests
Geopolitical Risk Analysis | Belt & Road Initiative | Energy Security | History of International Politics | Revolution and Social Movements | Geopolitics and Global Power Competition| Geoeconomics and Corridors | Middle Eastern Politics | Security and Strategic Studies | Foreign Policy Analysis
Research Methods
Historical Methods | Analytical Process Tracing
Geographic Regions of Study
Middle East | China | Eurasia