John L. Esposito is Professor of Religion and International Affairs and of Islamic Studies at Georgetown University. He is Founding Director of Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Center for Muslim-Christian Understanding (History and International Affairs in the Walsh School of Foreign Service), and has served as President of the Middle East Studies Association of North America, and as President of the American Council for the Study of Islamic Societies. He has been a consultant to the US Department of State, as well as to governments, corporations, and the media worldwide. Esposito specializes in Islam, political Islam, and the impact of Islamic movements from North Africa to Southeast Asia.
He is Editor-in-Chief of the Oxford Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World, The Oxford History of Islam, and The Oxford Dictionary of Islam. His more than 25 books include: Unholy War: Terror in the Name of Islam; What Everyone Needs to Know About Islam; The Islamic Threat: Myth or Reality?; Islam: The Straight Path, Islam and Politics; Islam and Democracy and Makers of Contemporary Islam (with John Voll); Political Islam: Radicalism, Revolution or Reform?; Iran at the Crossroads (with R.K.Ramazani); Islam, Gender and Social Change (with Yvonne Haddad); and Women in Muslim Family Law.