John Ghazvinian is an American journalist and historian. He was raised in London and Los Angeles, born in Iran and currently lives in Philadelphia. He is known for his writing on African oil politics as the author of Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil

Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil

Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil is a book written by John Ghazvinian about the petroleum industry in Africa. The book was received well by critics, and garnered good reviews from both the Boston Globe and The New York Times...

(Harcourt, 2007), an expose of the petroleum industry

Petroleum industry

The petroleum industry includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transporting , and marketing petroleum products. The largest volume products of the industry are fuel oil and gasoline...

 in Africa. Ghazvinian is currently a Senior Fellow at the Center for Programs in Contemporary Writing at the University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

.

Untapped has received widespread praise, particularly among progressives. Andrew Leonard at salon.com

Salon.com

Salon.com, part of Salon Media Group , often just called Salon, is an online liberal magazine, with content updated each weekday. Salon was founded by David Talbot and launched on November 20, 1995. It was the internet's first online-only commercial publication. The magazine focuses on U.S...

 wrote of the book that it "should be must reading for anyone who still believes that unregulated markets are the best way to cure all the ills of the poor nations of the world." The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe

The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...

called Untapped a "riveting account and superb analysis of what African oil means to a fuel-hungry world and to the African nations involved." The New York Times

The New York Times

The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...

called the book "perceptive" and said that it "drills home the point...that a thoughtful strategy to lift the neglected bottom billion must compete against the global oil giants going about their business."

Ghazvinian also writes for The Nation

The Nation

The Nation is the oldest continuously published weekly magazine in the United States. The periodical, devoted to politics and culture, is self-described as "the flagship of the left." Founded on July 6, 1865, It is published by The Nation Company, L.P., at 33 Irving Place, New York City.The Nation...

, Newsweek

Newsweek

Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...

, GQ and The Virginia Quarterly Review

The Virginia Quarterly Review

The Virginia Quarterly Review is a literary magazine in the United States. It was founded in 1925 by James Southall Wilson, at the request of University of Virginia president E. A. Alderman...

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Raised in London and later in Los Angeles, he currently lives in Philadelphia.

External links

• "The Curse of Oil" from The Virginia Quarterly Review