EXPERTS ADVISORY

University of Michigan experts can comment on the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal and its global implications.

Juan Cole, professor of history, studies the ongoing political change in the Middle East. He regularly blogs at Informed Comment.

“President Trump has in one fell swoop destroyed the credibility of the word of the United States, empowered Iran’s hardliners, damaged the cause of nuclear nonproliferation, and very possibly set America on course for bankruptcy as it ramps up for yet another ruinous Middle Eastern war,” he said.

Contact: jrcole@umich.edu

Samer Mahdy Ali, associate professor or Arabic language and culture, is director of the Center for Middle Eastern and North African Studies.

Ali says the decision to withdraw from the deal is a win for hardliners in the U.S., Israel, Saudi Arabia and Iran.

“It’s hard to know with President Trump,” he said. “We don’t know what his intentions are with any particular policy or actions. He does have a habit of throwing grenades in the room, shaking things up, scaring people and then coming back and trying to be the problem solver. It remains to be seen what happens in the next three months.”

Contact: 734-764-1401, samerali@umich.edu