Nasr is a political scientist by training and has focused on comparative politics and international relations of the Middle East. He is the author of several monographs on the study of Middle Eastern politics and societies, including The Vanguard of the Islamic Revolution: The Jama`at-i Islami of Pakistan (1994), Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism (1997), The Islamic Leviathan (2001), Democracy in Iran (written with Ali Gheissari, 2006), The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam Will Shape the Future (2006), Meccanomics: The March of the New Muslim Middle Class (2010), Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It will Mean for Our World (2010), and The Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat (2013).
Nasr's writing has addressed politics and Islamic activism in Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan, and throughout the Arab world. He has highlighted the role of states in the process of Islamization throughout the history of the Middle East and the importance of sectarian identity in Middle-Eastern politics, including the growing importance of Shīʿa Islam and its relation to the politics of Iran and other Middle-Eastern countries following the Islamic RevolutioninIran (1978–1979) and the Iraq War (2003–2011). His book Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It will Mean for Our World (2010) focused on the importance of a new middle class for the future of the Muslim world.[7] He appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on 1 August 2006,[8] 22 September 2009,[9] and 25 April 2013.[10] Due to the accuracy of his political predictions Nasr has been hailed as a "shrewd forecaster."[11]
Nasr is the son of Seyyed Hossein Nasr, a prominent Iranian academic, philosopher, and scholar of religion. He is married to a technology executive. They have two sons and one daughter.[12]
Dispensable Nation: American Foreign Policy in Retreat (Doubleday, 2013)
Forces of Fortune: The Rise of the New Muslim Middle Class and What It will Mean for Our World (Free Press, 2009), also published under the titles The Rise of Islamic Capitalism: Why the New Middle Class is Key to Defeating Extremism and Meccanomics: The March of the New Muslim Middle Class in the U.K.
The Shia Revival: How Conflicts Within Islam will Shape the Future (W.W. Norton & Company, 2006)
Democracy in Iran: History and the Quest for Liberty (coauthor, Oxford University Press, 2006)
The Islamic Leviathan: Islam and the Making of State Power (Oxford University Press, 2001)
Mawdudi and the Making of Islamic Revivalism (Oxford University Press, 1996)[6]
The Impact of the Pandemic on Geopolitical in the MENA Region from in Navigating the Pandemic: The Challenge of Stability and Prosperity in the MediterraneanMED
A Nuclear Deal Won’t Secure the Middle East, But Regional Cooperation Could, and Washington Should Support It from Foreign Affairs
Iran Among the Ruins: Tehran’s Advantage in a Turbulent Middle East from Foreign Affairs