Dr Rowena Abdul Razak
Background
Rowena holds a BA (Hons) in History from SOAS, a MA in Middle East and Mediterranean Studies from Kings College London and a DPhil in Oriental Studies from the University of Oxford. She has written on Iran during the Second World War and Cold War, focusing on the Tudeh Party, and labour politics. She has also written on Arab nationalism in Bahrain and is currently exploring two research interests: one that looks at Iran’s relations with Malaysia and Southeast Asia, and the history of the Middle East during the Second World War. She is in the process of publishing her first manuscript that looks at the creation of Cold War dynamics in Iran. This book, based on her doctorate, explores how British-Soviet tensions played out in Iran during their joint occupation of the country during World War Two. It re-evaluates the role of the Tudeh Party in this narrative and looks closely at how the party challenged British imperial interests. She previously taught at the LSE and Queen Mary, and consults closely on heritage projects in Malaysia and the UK. She is from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Research Interests
I specialise in 20th century Iranian history and I have written on Iran's left and labour history as well as British imperialism in the Middle East. I am now working on Iranian-Malaysian relations.