Welcome to Trita Parsi’s Substack!

If you are interested in geopolitics of the Middle East, American grand strategy and analysis on global governance, US foreign policy, Iran, Israel, Palestine, and the Middle East, then you’ve come to the right place.

I am building a community here on Substack for those who want a deeper, more nuanced understanding of global events than they get in mainstream media.

We live in an era where noise, misinformation, and spin overwhelm us more than ever before. I cut through the social media noise, the mainstream media’s lazy repetition of spin, and governments’ use of misinformation to get to the real motivations of geopolitical actors and the likely second and third-order consequences of their decisions.

My analysis is not primarily based on reading the news, but rather on engaging with the newsmakers, based on the extensive global network I have developed over the past 25 years.

All my writing is free; I do not paywall the analysis. But for the smart and busy members of the community who want to go deeper behind the headlines, I hold monthly or semimonthly exclusive Zoom briefings and Q&As, as well as expert panels, for paid subscribers.

Who Am I?

I am Trita Parsi, I am an author, political commentator, and the co-founder of Washington’s only Restraint foreign policy think tank - the Quincy Institute. Washingtonian Magazine has named me as one of the 25 most influential voices on foreign policy in Washington, DC, for five years in a row since 2021. Preeminent public intellectual Noam Chomsky has described me as “one of the most distinguished scholars on Iran.”

I have spent the last 25 years focusing on the triangular relationship between the US, Israel, and Iran, and the role of Israel in the US-Iran conflict.

My first book, Treacherous Alliance: The Secret Dealings of Iran, Israel, and the United States (Yale University Press, 2007), won the silver medal of the 2008 Arthur Ross Book Award from the Council on Foreign Relations.

When Obama became President, the United States shifted toward diplomacy with Iran. But the initial efforts toward diplomacy were somewhat half-hearted and fell short, and I describe that effort in detail in my second book, A Single Roll of the Dice – Obama’s Diplomacy with Iran (Yale University Press, 2012), which was selected by Foreign Affairs as the Best Book of 2012 on the Middle East.

But in his second term, Obama became really serious about reaching a diplomatic deal with Iran, and despite unprecedented opposition from Israel and pro-Israeli groups in Washington, he succeeded. I reveal the behind-the-scenes developments that led to the nuclear deal, as well as the political fight in Washington, in Losing an Enemy: Obama, Iran and the Triumph of Diplomacy (Yale University Press, 2017).

All my books are based on extensive interviews with the actual decision-makers in all relevant capitals, which means that I spent extensive time interviewing top officials in Washington, Tel Aviv, and Tehran.

I have had a front seat to Washington’s policy-making for the last 25 years, both as a staffer on Capitol Hill, as the founder and President of the largest Iranian American grass-roots organization, NIAC, and as the founder and Executive Vice President of the Quincy Institute.

Through Quincy, my colleagues and I work toward a paradigm shift in US foreign policy, away from endless war and hegemony, and toward peacefyl co-existence in a world that, for better or for worse, no longer will be dominated by the United States alone.

Why subscribe?

I know you are busy. I know you want real news and analysis, not the tired and superficial frames advanced by the mainstream media and government spokespersons. And I know you want an analysis that also points to a path forward, rather than just resigning to the doom and gloom.

Here on Substack, I am building a community for those who want an edge in understanding and navigating global events. Who needs to understand the other side, rather than relying on the one-dimensional depictions of the “others” we often are fed. For those who need to connect the dots, see the bigger picture, and understand where we likely will be a week, a month, and a year from now.

As I have mentioned, all my writings and posts will be free; I don’t favor restricting analysis. But for those who want to go one step further, I do offer paid subscribers with monthly or semimonthly exclusive Zoom briefings and Q&As, as well as the occasional exclusive expert panel discussion with newsmakers, decision-makers, and other frontline analysts.

Welcome to our community!