Michael Rubin (born 1971) is a senior fellow at the

American Enterprise Institute The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research, known simply as the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), is a center-right Washington, D.C.–based think tank that researches government, politics, economics, and social welfare. A ...

(AEI). He previously worked as an official at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a meton ...

, where he dealt with issues relating to the Middle East, and as political adviser to the

Coalition Provisional Authority ) , capital = Baghdad , largest_city = capital , common_languages = ArabicKurdish English (''de facto'') , government_type = Transitional government , legislature = Iraqi Governing Council , title_leader = Administrator , leader1 = Jay ...

. He writes frequently on issues relating to the

Middle East The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Province), East Thrace (Europ ...

South Asia South Asia is the southern subregion of Asia, which is defined in both geographical Geography (from Greek: , ''geographia''. Combination of Greek words ‘Geo’ (The Earth) and ‘Graphien’ (to describe), literally "earth descr ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

, and American diplomacy.

Biography

Early life

A native of

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Rubin earned both his B.S. in biology (1994) and his Ph.D. in history (1999) from

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

. His dissertation, ''The Making of Modern Iran, 1858–1909: Communications, Telegraph and Society'' won Yale's

John Addison Porter Prize The John Addison Porter Prize is a literary award given annually by Yale University to the best work of scholarship in any field "where it is possible, through original effort, to gather and relate facts or principles, or both, and to present the ...

Career

Rubin has lectured in history at

Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; he, הַאוּנִיבֶרְסִיטָה הַעִבְרִית בִּירוּשָׁלַיִם) is a public research university based in Jerusalem, Israel. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Dr. Chaim Weiz ...

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

, and worked as visiting lecturer at Universities of

Sulaymaniyah Sulaymaniyah, also spelled as Slemani ( ku, سلێمانی, Silêmanî, ar, السليمانية, as-Sulaymāniyyah), is a city in the east of the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, not far from the Iran–Iraq border. It is surrounded by the Azmar, G ...

, Salahuddin, and Duhok, in the

Kurdistan Region of Iraq Kurdistan Region ( ku, هەرێمی کوردستان, translit=Herêmî Kurdistan; ar, إقليم كردستان), abbr. KRI, is an autonomous region in Iraq comprising the four Kurdish-majority governorates of Erbil, Sulaymaniyah, Duhok ...

. From 2002 until 2004, Rubin served as a staff adviser on Iran and Iraq for the Office of the Secretary of Defense. Between 2003 and 2004, Rubin worked as a political adviser to the

Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...

. Between 2004 and 2009, he was editor of the ''

Middle East Quarterly The Middle East Forum (MEF) is an American conservative think tank founded in 1990 by Daniel Pipes, who serves as its president. MEF became an independent non-profit organization in 1994. It publishes a journal, the '' Middle East Quarterly''. ...

''. He has received fellowships from the Council on Foreign Relations, and the

Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs The Carnegie Council for Ethics in International Affairs is a New York City-based 501(c)3 public charity serving international affairs professionals, teachers and students, and the attentive public. Founded in 1914, and originally named ''Church ...

. Since 2007 and 2021, he taught senior

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

U.S. Marine The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...

, and

U.S. Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage o ...

leadership prior to their deployment to

Iraq Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to the north, Iran to the east, the Persian Gulf and K ...

, the

Persian Gulf The Persian Gulf ( fa, خلیج فارس, translit=xalij-e fârs, lit=Gulf of Fars, ), sometimes called the ( ar, اَلْخَلِيْجُ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in Western Asia. The bod ...

, and

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

as a lecturer at the Naval Postgraduate School. Rubin is also a Contributing Editor for the online national security website ''19FortyFive''.

Turkey shut down order

In 2017,

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...

ordered Twitter to shut down the Twitter account of Rubin, accusing him of insulting Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, the President of Turkey. Twitter faced potential fines under Turkish law if it failed to comply. Rubin's critical tweets had sparked the legal dispute.

Bibliography

*''Seven Pillars: What Really Causes Instability in the Middle East?'' (co-editor, with Brian Katulus, AEI Press, 2019) *''Kurdistan Rising'' ( AEI Press, 2016) *''Dancing with the Devil: The Perils of Engaging Rogue Regimes''. New York: Encounter Books, 2014. () *''The Shi'ites of the Middle East'' (co-author, AEI Press, 2014) *''Dissent and Reform in the Arab World'' (editor, AEI Press, 2008) *''Eternal Iran: Continuity and Chaos'' (co-author with Patrick Clawson). London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2005. () *''Into the Shadows: Radical Vigilantes in Khatami's Iran.'' Washington: Washington Institute for Near East Policy, 2001. ()

References

External links

Michael Rubin's official website

Rubin's biography
– from the

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National Interest The national interest is a sovereign state's goals and ambitions (economic, military, cultural, or otherwise), taken to be the aim of government. Etymology The Italian phrase ''ragione degli stati'' was first used by Giovanni della Casa around ...

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Washington Examiner The ''Washington Examiner'' is an American conservative news outlet which consists principally of an online/digital website with a weekly magazine, based in Washington, D.C. It is owned by MediaDC, a subsidiary of Clarity Media Group, which is o ...

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Commentary Commentary or commentaries may refer to: Publications * ''Commentary'' (magazine), a U.S. public affairs journal, founded in 1945 and formerly published by the American Jewish Committee * Caesar's Commentaries (disambiguation), a number of works ...

'' * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rubin, Michael 1971 births Living people Yale University alumni American Enterprise Institute Middle East Forum Place of birth missing (living people) Historians of Iran Middle Eastern studies in the United States 21st-century American historians 21st-century American male writers American male non-fiction writers