Talal Atrissi

University Professor and Researcher

Dr. Talal Atrissi (born 1952 in Beirut, Lebanon) is a professor of sociology, researcher, and analyst of social, political, and strategic issues. He received his bachelor's degree in Psychology from the Faculty of Literature and Human Sciences at the Lebanese University (1974), a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Sociology from the Sorbonne University in Paris (1976), and his PhD in Sociology from the same university in 1979. Since 1980, he has been active as a lecturer and researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences at the Lebanese University, and has held important positions including the presidency of the first branch of this institute (2003–2007), membership in the Higher Council for the Preparation and Development of Curricula at the Lebanese University (2011–2013), and the presidency of the Higher Institute of Doctorate in Literature, Human and Social Sciences (2014–2016). He has also been the Director General of the Center for Strategic Studies, Research and Documentation in Beirut (1990–2000), editor-in-chief of the journal Shu'un al-Awsat (1998–2000), and a member of national committees for education and educational research. He currently serves as a scholarly and academic advisor at Al-Maaref University and a member of the Board of Trustees of Jinan University, and also teaches at the Command and Staff College of the Lebanese Army. His areas of specialization include educational sociology, social psychology, sociology of the family, political and strategic studies—especially Middle Eastern issues, Iran, resistance, and political Islam. Among his important works are the books State Without Men: The Dialectic of Sovereignty and Reform in the Middle East (2005), The Difficult Republic: Iran in Its Internal Transformations and Regional Policies (2006), Geostrategy of the Iranian Plateau (2009), Between Two Awakenings: Political Islam in a Transforming Middle East, and studies on Jesuit missions in Lebanon and the image of Asian countries in Arabic textbooks. He addresses the analysis of resistance issues, the Islamic Revolution of Iran, and regional developments in numerous interviews and articles.