White Supremacist Terrorism in Charlottesville: Reconstructing Unite the Right
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism
On August 2017, 600 white supremacists from 34 states descended upon a small city in central Virginia to terrorize its residents. The “Unite the Right” rally was the public unveiling of a new generation of violent white supremacism—an armed, media-savvy, digitally-empowered political movement that has rapidly become America’s top domestic terrorism threat,
I recently teamed up with Patrick Burkart of Texas A&M on new study that takes you inside the planning, promotion, and execution of the rally as a model of “immersive terrorism.”
History & Genesis of Soft War as Cultural Imperialism, 1978-2012
SAIS Review of International Affairs, Johns Hopkins University
Tehran believes itself to be embroiled in a "soft war." "Countering the soft war is the main priority for us today," said Iran's Supreme Leader soon after the disputed presidential elections of 2009. "In a soft war the enemy tries to make use of advanced cultural and communication tools to spread lies and rumors." What is this "soft war?" How did it emerge in Iranian discourse? This paper traces the genesis of the term in Iranian politics from pre-revolutionary Iran to 2012.
Soft War:
Myth, nationalism, and Media in Iran
The Communication Review
The term soft war (jang-e narm) has become a common phrase within the ruling establishment of the Islamic Republic of Iran. During the 2009 presidential election and its aftermath, state broadcast media and members of the country’s conservative political factions used the term as a euphemism for the spread of foreign ideas, culture, and influences through information communication technology. The target of soft war, according to this usage, was Iranian culture and national identity—the very underpinnings of the modern nation-state. While some have deemed soft war a relatively new discourse associated with the contested presidential election of 2009, this article argues that soft war is in fact the latest iteration of a long-standing myth of foreign conspiracy. It promotes a Manichean view of the world in which foreign powers are continuously working to violate Iranian sovereignty through informational and cultural means.
Persian Service: The BBC and British Interests in Iran
British Journal of Middle East Studies
In Persian Service: The BBC and British Interests in Iran, media scholar Annabelle Sreberny and former BBC producer Massoumeh Torfeh describe a delicate dance between the BBC Persian Service and the Iranian government. The history of the Persian Service is presented through a number of flashpoints in Iranian history in which the broadcaster played, or was accused of playing, a role in the outcome: the occupation of Iran and removal of Shah Reza Pahlavi in 1941; the crisis over the nationalization of the Anglo-Iranian Oil Company and the CIA-orchestrated coup of 1953; the fall of Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and the Islamic Revolution of 1979; the Soviet, and later NATO, occupation of Afghanistan; and finally, the contested 2009 presidential election and its aftermath.