Houchang E Chehabi studied geography at the University of Caen and international relations at the Institut d.Etudes Politiques in Paris before going to Yale University, where he took his PhD in political science in 1986. He then taught at Harvard University and UCLA, and in 1998 became a professor of international relations and history at Boston University. He is the author of Iranian Politics and Religions Modernism: The Liberation Movement of Iran under the Shah and Khomeini (1990), and co-editor, with Juan Linz, of Sultanistic Regimes (1998). His articles have appeared in Daedalus, Diplomacy and Statecraft, Government and Opposition, International Journal of the History of Sport, International Journal of Middle East Studies, Iranian Studies, Political Science Quarterly, and several edited volumes. Currently his main research interest is the cultural history of Iran since the 19th century.