Juan R. I. Cole is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan. For three decades, he has sought to put the relationship of the West and the Muslim world in historical context. His most recent book is Engaging the Muslim World and he also recently authored Napoleon's Egypt: Invading the Middle East. He has been a regular guest on PBS's Lehrer News Hour, and has also appeared on ABC Nightly News, Nightline, the Today Show, Charlie Rose, Anderson Cooper 360, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Democracy Now! and many others. He has also given many radio and press interviews.

Cole has written extensively about Egypt, Iran, Iraq, and South Asia. He has commented extensively on the Iraq War, the politics of Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the increasing conflict with Iran. He has a regular column at Salon.com. Cole continues to study and write about contemporary Islamic movements, whether mainstream or radical, whether Sunni and Salafi or Shiite. He commands Arabic, Persian and Urdu, reads some Turkish, and knows both Middle Eastern and South Asian Islam. Cole is President of the Global Americana Institute, a non-profit project that aims to translate important books by great Americans and about America into Arabic. He has lived in various parts of the Muslim world for nearly 10 years, and continues to travel widely there.