The Bush School capstone project “Iran after Khamenei: A Framework for Succession” has been cited in a recent report by the Washington-based Atlantic Council.
The Atlantic Council published a report titled After Sistani and Khamenei: Looming Successions Will Shape the Middle East in July 2019. The report, authored by top Middle East experts Abbas Kadhim and Barbara Slavin, examines a range of personalities that might assume the highest religious and political positions in Iraq and Iran in the coming years.
The capstone, completed in April 2017, identified regional and internal rivalries as two critical factors that will shape decision-making processes leading to the selection of the next supreme leader of Iran.
As a requirement to graduate from the Master of International Affairs and Master of Public Service and Administration programs, Bush School students must complete a group research project under faculty supervision for a real-world client.
The capstone project was conducted by Collin Brown, Jose Drowne, Christopher Fix, Jonathan Gillespie, Christopher Petersen, and Abdullah Qayomi. The project’s faculty advisor was Dr. Mohammad Ayatollahi Tabaar, and its client was the U.S. Department of State.
