Michael Mehrdad R.S.C. Izady or Michael Izady (born 1963), a contemporary writer on ethnic and cultural topics, particularly the Greater Middle East, and

Kurds Kurds (), or the Kurdish people, are an Iranian peoples, Iranic ethnic group from West Asia. They are indigenous to Kurdistan, which is a geographic region spanning southeastern Turkey, northwestern Iran, northern Iraq, and northeastern Syri ...

Early life and education

Izady was born to a Kurdish father and a Belgian mother, and spent much of his youth in

Iraq Iraq, officially the Republic of Iraq, is a country in West Asia. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to Iraq–Saudi Arabia border, the south, Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq border, the east, the Persian Gulf and ...

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

and

Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...

, as his diplomat parents moved from one assignment to another. He received his BA degree in

history History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

and

geography Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...

from the University of Kansas, and then attended

Syracuse University Syracuse University (informally 'Cuse or SU) is a Private university, private research university in Syracuse, New York, United States. It was established in 1870 with roots in the Methodist Episcopal Church but has been nonsectarian since 1920 ...

, where he received two master's degrees in

remote sensing Remote sensing is the acquisition of information about an physical object, object or phenomenon without making physical contact with the object, in contrast to in situ or on-site observation. The term is applied especially to acquiring inform ...

cartography Cartography (; from , 'papyrus, sheet of paper, map'; and , 'write') is the study and practice of making and using maps. Combining science, aesthetics and technique, cartography builds on the premise that reality (or an imagined reality) can ...

and in

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

. He received his PhD at the department of Middle Eastern Languages and Civilizations of

Columbia University Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...

in 1992.

Career

Izady taught for six years in the Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

and in the Department of Middle Eastern Studies and History at the Joint Special Operations University in Florida. He has testified before two US Congressional Committees and has authored many books and articles on Middle East and Southeast European subjects. He has been a part-time faculty at the Department of History at

Fordham University Fordham University is a Private university, private Society of Jesus, Jesuit research university in New York City, United States. Established in 1841, it is named after the Fordham, Bronx, Fordham neighborhood of the Bronx in which its origina ...

, New York Institute of Technology and Pace University since 2001. He also continues his educational services to the US military, diplomatic corps and the

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. Since 1997, he has also been a Master Adjunct professor at the Joint Special Operations University, Florida. Izady is also an ethnographer who has produced work on ethno-cultural topics of the Old World. His annotated cartographic works have been used by the atlases, authors, the international media—to include the '' National Geographic'', ''

The Economist ''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...

'' as well as the US military, the UN and various other entities. Some of his work included in the Atlas of the Islamic World and Vicinity can be found at

School of International and Public Affairs The School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) is the List of schools of international relations in the United States, international affairs and public policy school, public policy school of Columbia University, a private Ivy League univers ...

, Gulf 2000 Project web site.

Criticism

The Kurdologist and Iranologist Garnik Asatrian, narrating about pseudo-history in Kurdology, refers to Izady's 1992 ''The Kurds: A Concise Handbook'' as "phantasmagoric". The Iranologist Richard Foltz notes: "The alleged pan-Kurdish proto-religion called ' Yazdanism' is a fabrication of contemporary Kurdish scholar Mehrdad Izady".

Books

* ''The Kurds: A Concise Handbook'', Taylor & Francis Publishers, pp. 268, 1992. * ''The Sharafnâma, or, the History of the Kurdish Nation, 1597'', By Sharaf al-Din Bitlisi, translated into English and annotated by M. Izady, Mazda Publishers, pp. 302, 2005. * ''Guidebook to Iraq''. pp. 243, US military, 2005–present, 19th edition. * ''Guidebook to Afghanistan''. pp. 219, US military, 2005–present, 21st edition. * ''Guidebook to the Balkans''. pp. 244, US military, 2007–present, 21st edition. * ''Atlas of the Islamic World and Vicinity'', Columbia University, 2006–Present (an ongoing project)

Book chapters

* "Between Iraq and a Hard Place: The Kurdish Predicament", pp. 71–99 in
Iran, Iraq and the Legacies of War
', Edited by Lawrence G. Potter, Gary G. Sick, Pekgrave Macmillan, pp. 224, 2006. * "Kurds", ''Encyclopedia of the Developing World'', Routledge Publishers, pp. 1759, 2006. * "Kurds and the Formation of the State of Iraq, 1917–1932", pp. 95–109, in ''The Creation of Iraq, 1914–1921'', Edited by Reeva S. Simon, Eleanor Harvey Tejirian, Columbia University Press, pp. 181, 2004. * "Gulf and Indian Ocean Basin Ethnic Diversity: An Evolutionary History" in ''Security in the Persian Gulf: Origins, Obstacles and the Search for Consensus'', Edited by G. Sick and L. Potter, Palgrave Press, pp. 284, 2002. . * "The Geopolitical Realities of Kurdistan vs. Hopes for a New World Order" in ''Altered States: A Reader in the New World Order'', Edited by Phyllis Bennis, Michel Moushabeck, Interlink Pub Group Inc, pp. 538, 1998. * "The Kurdish Demographic Revolution and Its Socio-Political Implications" in ''Contrasts and Solutions in the Middle East'', Edited by Ole Høiris, Sefa Martin Yürükel, Aarhus University Press, pp. 562, 1997. * "E uno plurium?: A Projection on the Future of the National Minorities and their Identity in the 21st-Century" in ''The Transnationalization of Ethnicity and World Politics'', Edited by J. Cole and E. Skinner, Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center, Howard University, 1995.

Notes

External links

The Gulf/2000 Project – includes Izady maps
{{DEFAULTSORT:Izady, Mehrdad Kurdish humanities academics Iranologists 1963 births Living people University of Kansas alumni Syracuse University alumni Columbia Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni Harvard University faculty Pace University faculty Fordham University faculty Kurdish historians Kurdish scholars New York Institute of Technology faculty 20th-century Kurdish writers 21st-century Kurdish writers