Juan Cole is an American professor, expert and commentator on Middle Eastern affairs. He has testified before the United States Senate, and writes an award-winning weblog, “Informed Comment”. Since 9/11 he has written about current affairs. In addition to academic work, he has translated into English books by Kahlil Gibran and Mírzá Abu’l-Fadl, as well as working on Urdu fiction.
Cole?s books include “Sacred Space and Holy War” and “The Ayatollahs and Democracy in Iraq”. He has published op-eds on the Mideast at the “Washington Post”, “Le Monde Diplomatique”, and “The Guardian”. Cole is president and treasurer of the Global Americana Institute.
Source- Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Cole