Laboratory for Contemporary Iranian Studies

Publications

• Book

  Ravandi-Fadai S.

  Slavery in the Modern Middle East and North Africa Exploitation and Resistance from the 19th Century - Present Day

  What is the nature of slavery as practiced and at times reintroduced over the past two centuries in the Middle East and North Africa? In spite of the rich regional diversity of the areas studied – from Morocco to the Indian Ocean to Iran – this anthology demonstrates clear commonalities across the super-region. These include the regulation of slavery by Islam and local traditions, the absence of a rigid racial hierarchy as in North American slavery, the management of the sexuality and reproductive capacity of female slaves, and views on identity and heritage among descendants of slaves. Authors also examine the economic and theological underpinnings of contemporary slavery and human trafficking.
  
  The book is among the first to focus on slavery across the Islamic world from the 19th century to the present – a period constituting the endgame of institutionalized slavery in the region but also the persistence of forms of de facto enslavement. Each chapter scrutinizes from a different vantage point – institutions, economics, the abolitionist movement, literature, folklore, and the moving image – creating a multi-dimensional picture of the phenomenon.
  
  The authors have mined government archives and statistics, memoirs, interviews, photographs, drawings, songs, cinema and television. Not only are Arabic, Persian and Turkish sources leveraged, but a variety of materials in minor and endangered languages, such as Soqotri, Balochi and Sorani Kurdish, in addition to European languages.

  
  
  
  
  

  L.: Bloomsbury, 2024.

• Article

  Khataei D.

  Iran’s First Pivot to ASEAN, 1997–2005: Corridor Diplomacy and a Deferred Partnership

  Over the past three decades, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has occupied a recurrent yet understudied place in the foreign policy of the Islamic Republic of Iran. While Iranian leaders have consistently signalled interest in developing relations with Southeast Asia, existing scholarship on Iran’s Asia-Pacific policy has largely prioritised Tehran’s relations with China or individual ASEAN member states. There is a pressing need for studies into the roots of Iran’s political and economic interest in ASEAN, the history of Iran-ASEAN relations and the evolution of Iran’s overall policy towards Southeast Asia. This article examines Iran’s first pivot towards ASEAN during the presidency of Mohammad Khatami (1997-2005). It argues that during this period, Iran made its first concerted effort to improve relations with ASEAN states and to leverage the ensuing momentum to secure Sectoral Dialogue Partner status with ASEAN. Iran launched numerous energy, transport and logistics projects in Southeast Asia, and ASEAN states likewise initiated projects in Iran’s energy and logistics sectors. Iran’s bilateral deals with ASEAN states should be viewed as part of a coordinated corridor strategy rather than a set of isolated deals. The findings indicate that Iran sought to present itself to ASEAN leaders as a reliable energy partner and the optimal gateway to Central Asia, while addressing older security concerns about Iranian involvement with militant groupings in Southeast Asia and the export of Shia ideology. Methodologically, the article employs a qualitative historical approach, combining multi-archival research with process tracing across Iranian and ASEAN sources.

  International Journal of Asia-Pacific Studies. 2026. Vol. 22. No. 2. P. 177-197.

• Book chapter

  Kashin V., Yankova A., Kondakova K.

  Russian Approach to Geoeconomics: Russian Economic Statecraft Since the Beginning of War in Ukraine

  The war in Ukraine and sweeping Western sanctions introduced against Russia in 2022 have produced major changes in the Russian model of economic development and the Russian approach to economic statecraft. Under the new economic model, the Russian leadership is trying to turn the country into an “economic fortress” that will be self-sufficient in key areas of technology that are vital for national security and social stability. Major import substitution programs have been launched. External economic relations are reoriented toward cooperation with the Global South. Any dependence on the West is considered a weakness to be eliminated even if Russia still manages to secure access to some Western goods and technologies. But dependence on “friendly countries” like China in some sectors is also considered undesirable. Russian economic and industrial policies are undergoing a process of deep securitization, because Russia expects to operate in conditions of a new cold war against the West for the foreseeable future. One of the consequences of that trend is a major redistribution of economic power with Russian state-run companies as well as some domestic private companies cheaply purchasing the assets of global companies or the more “globalized” part of Russian businesses that chose to leave the country. This process will, in turn, lead to significant changes in the Russian economic and political elite, affecting future policies. In spite of the Western sanctions, Russia is still capable of using offensive economic tools to prevent certain countries from supplying weapons to Ukraine or taking other anti-Russian actions.

  In bk.: The Oxford Handbook of Geoeconomics and Economic Statecraft. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2025. Ch. 25. P. 431-454.