John Calabrese is Assistant Professor of Global and Immersive Studies at American University in Washington, DC. He is also a senior scholar at the Middle East Institute (MEI) where he directs MEI's project on The Middle East and Asia (MAP) and serves as the book review editor of The Middle East Journal. In addition, Dr Calabrese is the author of China's Changing Relations with the Middle East (1991) and Revolutionary Horizons: Regional Foreign Policy in Post-Khomeini Iran (1994) and has edited various books and written numerous articles on the international relations of the Middle East, especially on the cross-regional ties between the Middle East and Asia. His research interests focus on international relations of the Middle East, particularly on the growing interdependence between the Gulf countries and South/East Asia.