McFaul’s World Podcast: Talking Iran with Abbas Milani

Stanford’s leading Iran scholar on the regime, protests, and what comes next

I’m pleased to announce the launch of a new product here on Substack: the McFaul’s World Podcast!

For my first guest, I’m honored to welcome Dr. Abbas Milani—my dear friend and colleague at Stanford University—for a discussion of current events in Iran. There is no one in the world I would rather have on a podcast to discuss Iran than Abbas.

Dr. Milani is the Director of the Hamid and Christina Moghadam Program in Iranian Studies at Stanford University and a Professor (by courtesy) in the Stanford Global Studies Division. He is also one of the founding co-directors of the Iran Democracy Project and a research fellow at the Hoover Institution.

Here at Stanford, where he teaches some of our most popular courses on Iran and U.S.–Iran relations, I have collaborated for many years with Abbas and Larry Diamond to coordinate the Iran Democracy Project at the Hoover Institution.

You can see some of our earlier work together here:

The Real Meaning of Putin’s Middle East Failure

Nukes, Democracy and Iran: A Third Way

Beyond Incrementalism: A New Strategy for Dealing with Iran

When it comes to movements for democracy and human rights in Iran, no one is more qualified to discuss these issues than Abbas.

Do check out his recent piece in the New York Times, “The End of Fear in Iran”, as well as his piece in The New Statesman, “Iran is on the Edge of Revolution”.

You can find more of his other publications here.

And listen to our conversation now!