MESA Graduate Student Paper Prize
Soha Saghazadeh
UC Santa Barbara, Film and Media Studies
2025 Honorable Mention
Soha Saghazadeh
Drone Recirculations: Iran’s Reverse-Engineering Warfare
“Drone Recirculations” is a fascinating politics and drone warfare through the lens of science and technology studies. The article focuses primarily on Iran, its technological capabilities, and its engagement in drone warfare. The paper demonstrates how Orientalist tropes have dominated discussion of Iran’s drone program, even in the face of Iran’s consistent technological progress. “Drone recirculations” brings together news reports, diplomatic statements, and technical discussions of science while holding them to a rigorous theoretical scrutiny. The paper also critiques the role of academic as a purveyor of military technology and the implications thereof. This paper contributes to a growing body of scholarship on aviation, aerospace, and technology, still a nascent area of interest in Middle East Studies.