Jared Cohen, author of Children of Jihad, on Muslim youth culture

At the ripe old age of 26, Jared Cohen is on the radar screen of big business, politics, and Hollywood. Last month he joined such names as California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sumner Redstone, and Steve Wynn to speak at the Milken Global Conference in Beverly Hills (also referred to as Davos West). A few days later, Cohen flew to New York to be a judge at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Cohen's day job is at the State Department, working with Condoleezza Rice on issues in the Middle East. Before landing at the State Department, the Oxford Rhodes Scholar decided to write a book, Children of Jihad, about Muslim youth in the Middle East. He found they weren't so different from American youth. In a world where Internet cafes are like daytime discos—and underground party scenes thrive—Cohen explores the various ways these "children of jihad" manage to subvert the often strict rules of their various cultures. Recently, Cohen sat down with Radar to discuss America's pop culture influences on the Middle East, the ins and outs of creating nightlife in teetotaling regimes, and the role of technology in shaping the social lives of young Muslims.

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Radar: During the Milken Global Conference last month, you spoke on a panel about the changing demographics of the Middle East and the ways people get around the government. You said there was a sort of wild social scene in all of these countries.
Cohen: They're all wild in their own way. Lebanon has the most open party scene. Lebanon has the most sort of free culture in terms of young people being able to do what they want. Iran is the most closed, but has the craziest underground.

I'd catch Hezbollah guys out in Christian nightclubs pretending they were something else. Even though they would never want to get caught doing this, they're still just young men What do you mean by underground?
Young people will find ways to rebel and put aside their political, ethnic, national, and religious identities and just behave as young people. On the sort of more superficial side, they had these wild and crazy parties in alleyways and private homes, where they make alcohol in bathtubs and sinks.

Obviously they aren't allowed to drink.
No, it's illegal to drink there. The interesting thing is they use technology to organize and do things they aren't suppose to do. Initially it's wild and crazy parties, but after they learn to do that, you talk to them more and you find that they use the same methods to organize underground book clubs, underground poetry clubs, underground political groups, underground discussion groups, underground bands, and underground battle of the band competitions—underground everything.

How did they do it?
Well, this is what is so interesting. You're at these parties and you start asking these kids: How do you organize these things? You live in the Islamic Republic of Iran! They start telling you how they walk around alleyways with their Bluetooth activated on their mobile phone and they start text messaging random people, telling them where to go and what time.

Text messaging people they don't even know?
Yes, people they don't even know. Bluetooth is not just a creepy piece that you see people walking around talking to themselves with. It allows you to call and text message random strangers, as long as they also have Bluetooth. They also use online social networks and Internet platforms using certain codes. It's almost like a youth language.

What do they wear? I always hear when some of the women aren't in public, the look drastically changes.
I went to nightclubs in Syria where, when girls got in there, they took off their head scarves and chucked them in the corner as if it was a coat. That's not a hundred percent, but a segment of the population.

Was it ever controversial, say, when one women would be wearing the head scarf and she'd watch another woman just throw it down?
Maybe if it happened during the day, yes. There's a chapter in my book called "Democracy After Dark." I argue that the darker it is outside, the less names, religion, and politics matter. All of that is overshadowed by a common desire to act like a young person. Depending on where you are and what community you're in, people rebel in different kinds of ways. Every now and then I'd catch Hezbollah guys out in Christian nightclubs pretending they were something else. Even though they're Hezbollah and would never want to get caught doing this, they're still just young men.

Were drugs prevalent?
In Iran, drugs are a real problem. Like the United States, you have elite populations and more impoverished populations using drugs.

What kind of drugs?
Lots of hallucinogenic drugs, lots of opium. In some of the more impoverished parts you have a lot of heroin. Iran has a serious, serious drug problem. They're using it as an escape and it's really unfortunate.

Did they discuss sex?
More than you would think. In Lebanon, one-night stands are handled in a unique way. People are more reluctant to engage in that sort of activity within their own community, because reputation matters so much. At least in Lebanon a lot of the deviation takes place outside one's community. Also, in Lebanon and other parts of the Middle East, you hear of women actually paying money to have reconstructive surgery so that when they get married their husband doesn't know they've had premarital sex.

You said plastic facial surgery can actually be a status symbol in certain parts.
It's a very funny story. I was in the southern part of Iran and driving around with some friends of mine, and I kept seeing all these girls with bandages on their noses, and I said, "Does everyone in this country get nose jobs?" She said, "No, they're fake." I said, "I know, that's why I'm asking." She said, "No, for every 28 girls you see wearing bandages, only one of them got a nose job. The rest do it because it's fashionable."

Do they love American pop culture?
They want to know about pop culture in America. They love Beyoncé, Ryan Seacrest, Jay-Z, 50 Cent. That doesn't mean they're going to like our policies or buy into democracy, but what it means is that there are certain common areas where our youth can, and do, appeal to their youth.