Babak Rahimi

Babak Rahimi received a Ph.D. from the European University Institute, Florence, Italy. Dr. Rahimi has also studied at the University of Nottingham and London School of Economics and Political Science, UK. He was a Senior Fellow at the United States Institute of Peace from 2005-2006, where he conducted research on Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani and Shiite politics in post-Baathist Iraq. He is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Literature, Program for the Study of Religion, University of California, San Diego.

Contact Babak Rahimi

    Articles by Babak Rahimi

    RUSSO-GEORGIAN WAR CREATES SECURITY DILEMMA FOR IRAN

    Although the Georgian-Russian military conflict and its still uncertain aftermath may have produced no considerable change in Iran’s foreign policy, the projection of Russian power has created a new security

    The Mumahidun: Muqtada Al-Sadr’s New Militia

    The Mahdi Army, the Shia militia loyal to Muqtada al-Sadr, has recently undergone a significant transformation. On August 28, al-Sadr suspended the armed operations of the Mahdi Army (al-Jazeera, August

    Maliki Government Faces a Governance Crisis

    Post-Baathist Iraq is undergoing a perilous phase in its short history. The Nuri al-Maliki government, which was formed in May 2006 as the first "unity government" after the fall of

    The Militia Politics of Basra

    Basra, the second largest and the richest city in Iraq, is at the brink of a major economic and political meltdown. Unless Baghdad succeeds in reaching a compromise over the

    Shiite Power Struggle Unfolds in Diwaniya

    Since the political bloc loyal to Moqtada al-Sadr abandoned the parliament and government ministries on April 16—in a move to demand Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki set a timetable for the

    The Sadr-Sistani Relationship

    One of the oddest developments in the recent history of Iraq has been the growing connection between the young firebrand cleric, Moqtada al-Sadr, and the highest-ranking Shiite cleric, Ayatollah Ali

    Moqtada al-Sadr’s New Alliance with Tehran

    For the last three years, Tehran's relationship with the firebrand junior cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has undergone a significant change. During the early rise of the Sadrist phenomenon, the young cleric