Dr. Emily L. Blout is an author, consultant, and scholar with subject matter expertise on Iran and US-Iran relations as well as propaganda and information operations by state and non-state actors.

She is the author of Media and Power in Modern Iran: Mass Communication, Ideology, and the State (Bloomsbury, 2023), which examines the political and technological history of media in Iran over the course of more than eight decades and two political regimes, from Imperial Iran to the Islamic Republic.  

Dr. Blout is a Senior Research Fellow at the International Institute for Counter Terrorism (ICT) and Visiting Professor at the Lauder School of Government, Diplomacy, and Strategy at Reichman University in Herzliya, Israel. She teaches courses on antisemitism, terrorism, and propaganda at the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University.

Blout holds a Ph.D. in Iranian Studies from the University of St. Andrews and a M.A. in Security Studies from the Collage of International Security Affairs at the National Defense University.

Previously, she served as Assistant Professor of Media Studies at the University of Virginia, where she taught courses on media and power in Iran, information war and strategy, internet politics, and cyber conflict. She was also a Fellow at American University’s Internet Governance Lab and a Professorial Lecturer in the School of Communication. She served on the governing board of the International Communications division of the International Studies Association and as guest editor of The Communication Review. 

Dr. Blout’s research interests and publications, which span the peer-reviewed academic and popular press, generally concern the strategic use of media and information communication technology in foreign and domestic influence operations and asymmetric warfare. She has written about the Iranian state’s weaponization of media for Johns Hopkins University’s Review of International Affairs and The Communication Review, and on current events concerning Iran for IranSource, The Conversation,  IranWire, and Responsible Statecraft.

Her recent article in the journal Studies in Conflicts and Terrorism concerns the weaponization of media by non-state actors, specifically the American far-right. Drawing on a repository of more than 5,000 artifacts collected over two years, she historicizes the violent white supremacist attack on Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017. Blout and her co-author reconstruct the kinetic, cybernetic, and media-symbolic aspects of the campaign as a model of “immersive terrorism.” Dr. Blout also wrote about antisemitic conspiracy propaganda in connection to the January 6 insurrection for the influential online journal, War on the Rocks, and in connection to the Charlotteville attack in the Times of Israel. 

Dr. Blout’s scholarship is enhanced by over a decade working on foreign policy issues in Washington. Dr. Blout was a Fellow at the Pentagon in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs. Serving on the Turkey desk in the Europe and NATO policy office, Dr. Blout supported intelligence analysis and policy decision-making on a host of pressing issues related to US operations in the Middle East, including the Incirlik Air Base crisis and train-and-equip operations in Syria. 

Before beginning her doctoral degree, Blout worked at the Institute for National Strategic Studies at the National Defense University, where she researched WMD, nonproliferation, and counterterrorism policymaking at the National Security Council.  She also worked at the Institute’s Conflict Records Research Center, analyzing hundreds of documents and audio recordings recovered from the palaces of Saddam Hussein by US forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Previously, Dr. Blout served as advisor and Spokeswoman for a senior member of the House of Representatives and as Legislative Director of a leading non-profit organization representing Americans of Iranian descent.

She has a diverse publication record ranging from peer-reviewed journals and specialized industry outlets to opinion pages, newsletters, and blogs. See her website for sample publications.

Blout has been quoted by numerous newswires and newspapers, including Reuters, the Associated Press, the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, Wired, and the Christian Science Monitor.

Dr. Blout offers discrete consultation and analysis services. Her clientele includes law enforcement and intelligence agencies, technology companies, and political campaigns. For inquiries, contact Emily directly at emilyblout@gmail.com. Download excerpts of her book and select research publications on academia.edu or via her website, EmilyBlout.com. Follow her on X @emilyblout.