John "Juan" Cole is an American scholar, public intellectual, and historian of the modern Middle East and South Asia.  He is Richard P. Mitchell Collegiate Professor of History at the University of Michigan.  He has lived in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.  As a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs, he has appeared in print and on television, and testified before the United States Senate. He has published several peer-reviewed books on the modern Middle East and is a translator of both Arabic and Persian. Since 2002, he has written a weblog, Informed Comment www.juancole.com.  

Cole received his B.A. in History and Literature of Religions, Northwestern University, his M.A. Arabic Studies/History, from American University in Cairo, and his Ph.D. in Islamic Studies, from University of California Los Angeles