You can connect with Dr. Rafizadeh on Twitter @Dr_Rafizadeh
As a business strategist, scholar, public speaker and world-renowned political scientist, Dr. Majid Rafizadeh (Persian: دکتر مجید رفیعزاده) has been the recipient of numerous scholarships and awards including from Oxford University, Annenberg, and University of California Santa Barbara.
Frequently called upon to brief U.S. and EU officials, Dr. Rafizadeh has also been invited to teach at several universities including University of California Santa Barbara through the US State Department Fulbright Teaching scholarship. He regularly testifies as an expert at U.S. governmental institutions such as the U.S. Federal Court. Dr. Rafizadeh is the president of the International American Council, a bestselling author and he serves on the boards of several notable organizations including the US-Middle East Chamber of Business and Commerce, Harvard International Review of Harvard International Relations Council at Harvard University, International advisory board member of USAID Center for Energy studies, and he is a member of the Gulf 2000 Middle East Project of the Columbia University, School of International and Public Affairs.. Dr. Rafizadeh has also been named by several news outlets as one of the most notable Iranian Americans.
Dr. Rafizadeh's analyses and research have been used to brief governmental and non-governmental institutions including the UK Parliament and the United States Congress. He has also been named as a leading expert and influencer along with former President and Nobel laureate F.W. de Klerk, former speaker of the US House of Representative and former senator, former State Department official to John Kerry, former President of Latvia, Vaira Freiberga, ,former UK ambassador, former Vice President and Prime Minister of Iraq, Ayad Alawi, and former CIA deputy director of intelligence.
Dr. Rafizadeh is frequently quoted in national and international news outlets including CNN, BBC, Bloomberg News, Reuters, Los Angeles Times, Aljazeera English, and he has been invited to write for both academic and non- academic papers; His work has appeared in the New York Times International, the Times, Foreign Policy Magazine, Los Angeles Times, CNN Fareed Zakaria GPS, The Nation, The Atlantic, Newsweek, Huffington Post, Harvard International Review, Yale Journal of International Affairs, Aljazeera, Georgetown Journal of International Affairs, and George Washington International Review, to name a few.
Dr. Rafizadeh appears frequently on television and radio as a political scientist and commentator including on CNN, BBC TV and radio, ABC, Fox News, MSNBC, CNBC, RT, CCTV and Aljazeera English. He is regularly invited to speak at academic, diplomatic and foreign policy conferences including the Diplomatic Academy of Vienna, the State Department's Leaders for Democracy Fellows, the France Institute of International Relations (IFRI), Institut français des relations internationales, Total multinational corporation, Milton Seminar for Diplomacy, and foreign affairs conferences. Dr. Rafizadeh has obtained several graduate degrees; a Doctorate, PhD, in government and international affairs, a Master's degree in global and international studies, a Master's in journalism, a Master's in linguistics and teaching, and a Bachelor’s degree in linguistics. Several biographical features have been written about Dr. Rafizadeh. According to CNN and BBC biographical features of Dr. Rafizadeh, he was born into poverty and was homeless in his childhood. He continued his education and acquired several languages in addition to being a native speaker of both Arabic and Persian languages. Accordingly, during his childhood, his father was tortured for advocating for democracy, through various torture methods documented by Amnesty International including flogging, “al-Kursi al-Almani” the “German Torture Chair” and "the ladder" (sullam). Based on CNN and France International , several of Rafizadeh’s family and relative members, including women and children, were injured and killed in the Syrian civil war. Accordingly, Dr. Rafizadeh's background "gave him a unique and first hand experinece in understanding the social, political, religious and economic landcsapes of the region". A Quote from Dr. Majid Rafizadeh: Our differences may strive to separate us, but most human beings share the same purpose, the same aspirations, and desires, to live a peaceful life. If we all made the choice to surrender self-interest and greed for the sake of unity, then this journey could be pleasant for every creature on earth.
Dr. Rafizadeh's articles, books, and interviews are frequnetly translated to other languages including French, Spanish, Chinese, Arabic, Persian and Russian. To write to Dr. Rafizadeh: Dr.Rafizadeh@Post.Harvard.Edu
