Dr Pierre C. Pahlavi

Dr Pierre C. Pahlavi

Department of Defence Studies

Contact
Email
Tel: 416-482-6800 ext 6989
Fax: 416-482-6802
Address:  Canadian Forces College
215 Yonge Blvd
Toronto ON M5M 3H9

Areas of Interest

  • The Islamic Republic of Iran and the major axes of its foreign policy
  • Influence strategies, public diplomacy and strategic communications
  • Asymmetric strategies, grey zone approaches and hybrid strategies
  • Geopolitics, and the evolution of security and power as concepts

Educational and Professional Background

Dr Pierre Pahlavi is Full Professor, Chair of the Department of Security and International Affairs and Deputy Director in the Department of Defence Studies of the Canadian Forces College in Toronto. Along with multidisciplinary and international academic training, Dr Pahlavi has a diploma from the Université de Nice - Sophia Antipolis (MA), from the Université de Montréal (MSc), and from McGill University (PhD).

During his post-doctoral research, Dr Pahlavi taught in Quebec (UQAM, Université de Sherbrooke), where he was research associate at the Canada Research Chair in Foreign Policy and Defence, the Centre d’Études et de recherches internationales (CÉRIUM) and the Research Group on International Security. His research has been funded by the Department of National Defence through the Forum on Security and Defence, CÉRIUM, and the Fonds québécois de recherche sur la société et la culture. In addition to the support of the Defense Academic Research Program, his work in the field of institutional analysis has received financial support from the Defence Research and Development Canada.

Current Research and Projects

Dr Pahlavi’s recent publications discuss his main areas of expertise, which are influence strategies, Iran’s foreign policy. and hybrid strategies. He has authored several studies on the theme of public diplomacy and strategic communications (The Hague Journal of Diplomacy, The Canadian Foreign Policy Journal, Routledge, Presses Universitaires de Science Po Paris). His publications also address the issue of asymmetric warfare, gray zone strategies and hybrid threats (L’Harmattan, La Revue militaire canadienne, Le Journal de L’Armée du Canada, Journal of Strategic Studies, Éditions Bruylant, Terrorism and Political Violence, Politique étrangère, Guerres mondiales et conflits contemporains, NATO Association of Canada). Finally, he authored articles on the Islamic Republic of Iran’s regional and international strategy (Politique Internationale, Défense nationale, Small Arms & Insurgencies, World Scientific, Diplomatie, Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs, Politique étrangère).

Published in 2017, his latest book on the Iranian revolution received the prestigious Prix Diane Potier-Boès, awarded each year by l’Académie française for the best history book on the Middle East. He works occasionally as a media consultant on the Iranian issue and is an active member of the Centre for Institutional Analysis on the Armed Forces and the Chaire Raould-Dandurand en études stratégiques.

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