Amir Ahmadi Arian

Amir Ahmadi Arian is an Iranian novelist and journalist, the author of two critically acclaimed novels and a book of nonfiction in Farsi, short stories and essays in English. He holds a PhD in comparative literature from The University of Queensland, Australia. He currently teaches literature and creative writing at City College, New York.

A family under attack: Iranian exiles and the economic sanctions

The sanctions force Iranians to suspend their struggle against their abusive father, fearing that the interfering strangers would manipulate their demands and grievances.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 20 Feb 2019

The colonial roots of Trump’s discourse on Iran

The colonial image of Persians as hypocritical and unreliable is so deeply entrenched in western imagination, that it affects policymaking on the highest levels.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 28 Nov 2017

Vicariously offended: the Dawkins controversy and the absence of Muslim voices

The only way to have a leverage in current debates around Islam is to have many strong and effective voices, to the extent that Muslim voices become indispensable.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 31 Jul 2017

Tale of a stillborn migration

Some stories are not dramatic enough to be widely reported by the media. Yet, like other cases of flagrant injustice, they are worth being told. This is one of them.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 10 May 2017

The ubiquitous, ineffective laughter

How did political satire shows sap the power of laughter under Trump and are these shows a form of laughtivism?

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 10 Apr 2017

The ‘mafia principle’ and godfather Trump

Donald Trump is not an aberration. He is the extreme manifestation of an existing foreign policy doctrine - the ‘mafia principle’ – and he is determined to release the whole potential of its violent core.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 10 Mar 2017

The curse of apocalyptic rhetoric: why resisting Donald Trump requires prose

Days after the inauguration of Donald Trump, the rhetoric around his presidency on the left remains mostly unchanged: a mix of incredulity and rage, laced with apocalyptic fret.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 8 Feb 2017

Leaving stings in the wounds of others: Donald Trump and American foreign policy

If you are from the Middle East, Donald Trump is a sad reminder of virtually all the mainstream politicians you have lived under, often supported by the US government.

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 2 Feb 2017

The surfacing of trauma: the myth and history of Sunni-Shia divide

Sunnis and Shias have lived together in peace for centuries, and up to the new millennium have barely had a history of bloody conflict. Why now?

By Amir Ahmadi Arian

/ 18 Sep 2016