Brenda Shaffer
Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
Contact:
Email: bshaffer@univ.haifa.ac.il
Experience
Brenda Shaffer was a post-doctoral fellow at the International Security Program and the former Research Director of the Caspian Studies Project at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. Dr. Shaffer's main research interests include political, social, and security trends in the Caucasus and Central Asia, with emphasis on the Republic of Azerbaijan; the Azerbaijani minority in Iran; ethnic politics in Iran; Iranian nuclear program and security policy; Russian-Iranian relations; Iranian foreign policy, with emphasis on Iran’s policy in Central Asia and the Caucasus; U.S.–Iranian relations; energy and politics, especially in the Caspian region, and the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. She is also interested in the impact of newly established ethnic-based states on co-ethnics beyond those states' borders as well as the effect on collective identity of political borders that divide co-ethnics.
Dr. Shaffer received her Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University for her work on "The Formation of Azerbaijani Collective Identity: In Light of the Islamic Revolution in Iran and the Soviet Breakup." She has worked for a number of years as a researcher and policy analyst for the Government of Israel and reads a number of languages, including Turkish, Russian, Azerbaijani, and Hebrew. She has served in the Israel Defense Forces. Dr. Shaffer has published in a number of scholarly journals and newspapers, including and an article in Current History entitled, “Is there a Muslim Foreign Policy?” and “Iran at the Nuclear Threshold,” (Arms Control Today November 2003). Dr. Shaffer's op-eds have appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, and the Boston Globe. She is the author of the books: Partners in Need: The Strategic Relationship of Russia and Iran (the Washington Institute for Near East Policy) and Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity (MIT Press, 2002). Dr. Shaffer is also the editor of Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy (MIT Press, 2006). She frequently is consulted by government fora and international organizations on policy in the Caspian region.
Dr. Shaffer is currently a faculty member at the University of Haifa, in the School of Political Science and Department of Asian Studies.
April 25, 2007
"'Shiite Crescent' Might Not Be What It Seems"
Op-Ed, The Baltimore Sun
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
The premise of the Shiite Crescent assumes that states sharing common sectarian ties tend to form alliances and choose cooperation partners. But do they?
July 2006
The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy
Book
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
The contributors to The Limits of Culture find that, contrary to the currently popular view, culture is rarely more important than other factors in shaping the foreign policies of countries in the Caspian region.
Read the Foreign Affairs review.
July 2006
"Introduction: The Limits of Culture"
Book Chapter
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
"In recent decades, area studies and international relations specialists have conducted and published research with little dialogue between their respective fields, especially concerning the impact of culture on states...."
July 2006
"The Islamic Republic of Iran: Is It Really?"
Book Chapter
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
"The Islamic Republic of Iran could conceivably be the poster child for the proponents of cultural explanations of foreign policy and of those who claim that Islam is the guiding force of foreign policy formation for Muslim-populated states...."
July 2006
"Conclusion"
Book Chapter
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
"This study examined the foreign policies of the states of the greater Caspian region throughout the first decade after the Soviet Union's demise and attempted to identify the role of culture in the foreign policy decisions of these states...."
June 2, 2006
"Iran's Volatile Ethnic Mix"
Op-Ed, The International Herald Tribune
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
Western policy makers should consider the response of ethnic minorities when assessing regime stability in Iran. Policy toward Iran should include strategies to deal with the political demands of Iranian ethnic groups — demands that are only likely to grow.
April-June 2006
"Turkey's Energy Policies in a Tight Global Energy Market"
Journal Article, Insight Turkey, issue 2, volume 8
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
Despite this extensive activity in the energy sphere, it seems, however, that Ankara's energy policy has been undertaken without a strategic plan and with little integration of energy issues into Turkey's overall foreign and security policies.
October 2005
"From Pipedream to Pipeline: A Caspian Success Story"
Journal Article, Current History, issue 684, volume 104
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
“The goal of winning the pipeline battle was less to gain the moderate volumes of oil and gas in the Caspian than to maintain (in the case of Russia) or attain (in the case of the United States and Iran) significant presence in the region.”
March 1, 2005
U.S. Policy in the South Caucasus in the Second George W. Bush Administration
Conference Paper
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
November 11, 2004
Will Iran Dupe the World Again?
Op-Ed, The Jerusalem Post
By Brenda Shaffer, Former Research Fellow, International Security Program; Former Research Director, Caspian Studies Project
