The Department of Central Eurasian Studies (CEUS) welcomes Ambassador Dr. Feisal Amin Rasoul Istrabadi to its faculty with tenure as Professor of Central Eurasian Studies and as the Michael A. and Laurie Burns McRobbie Professor in Global Strategic Studies.

A double alumnus of Indiana University, Istrabadi was appointed Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary and Deputy Permanent Representative of Iraq to the United Nations in 2004 and served in the Government of Iraq Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 2010 to 2012. Among his many contributions to governance, Istrabadi was principal legal drafter of Iraq’s interim constitution of 2004. Subsequently, Professor Istrabadi became the Founding Director of Indiana University’s Center for the Study of the Middle East which is funded as a US Title VI National Resource Center.

Professor Istrabadi is an elected Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a Member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He lectures regularly at universities and policy institutes around the globe and appears frequently in national and international media.

Professor Istrabadi focuses his research on constitutional, diplomatic, and security issues. He will bring deep academic learning and valuable diplomatic experience to enhance research, teaching, and service in the CEUS department’s established regions of study of Iranian and Turkish studies plus build up the emerging field of Persian Gulf studies.