Amin Tarzi, Director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University, Quantico, presented a lunch seminar talk on the Afghanistan-Pakistan Border Region at 12:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 12, 2008 in 012 Bendheim Hall.

Tarzi is the Director of Middle East Studies at the Marine Corps University in Quantico, Virginia. In his position, Dr. Tarzi supports the University by providing a resident scholar with expertise in Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and the Persian Gulf region and the implications of the region’s policies and actions on the United States in general and the United States Marine Corps in particular.

Previously, Tarzi was with RFE/RL’s Regional Analysis team focusing on Afghanistan and Pakistan. While working at RFE/RL, Tarzi also taught courses in political Islam, cultural intelligence, terrorist organizations and similar topics at the Washington-based Center for Advanced Defense Studies. Prior to joining RFE/RL, Tarzi 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. At the Monterey Institute, Tarzi also taught a graduate seminar on Middle East security policies and threat perceptions with focus on Egypt, Iran, Iraq and Israel. His work experience includes the post of Political Advisor to the Saudi Arabian Mission at the United Nations and the position of Researcher/Analyst on Iranian affairs at the Emirates Center for Strategic Studies and Research in Abu Dhabi. 

In addition to his formal work, Tarzi participated for five years in a series of informal Track II meetings with civilian and military personalities from Iran, Israel and several Arab states to discuss threat perceptions, security and confidence building measures, among other topics.  He has lived and traveled extensively in Afghanistan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, and the United Arab Emirates and has traveled several times to Iran and other Middle Eastern and Central Asian countries.

Tarzi is the author of numerous book chapters, articles and commentaries on Afghanistan and the Middle East and has appeared on national and international television, discussing the Middle East, Afghanistan and Pakistan on counter- and non-proliferation, security, the impact of regional policies on U.S. national security and interests, counternarcotics, NATO, the role of justice in state-building, and history.  He earned his Ph.D. and M.A. degrees from the Department of Middle East Studies at New York University. His latest work, entitled Taliban and the Crisis in Afghanistan, is a co-edited volume with Professor Robert D. Crews of Stanford University and was released by Harvard University Press in January 2008.