Central Asia-Azerbaijan Fellowship Program

The Central Asia-Azerbaijan Fellowship Program (CAAFP) is intended for young professionals – scholars, government officials, public policy experts, and social activists – who seek to enhance their research and analytical skills and become public policy leaders. The fellowship is available to individuals from Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, and Azerbaijan. The fellowship program provides a platform for the exchange of ideas and build lasting intellectual networks among the Central Asian and Azerbaijani and U.S. scholarly and policy communities.

Fall 2021 CAAFP Fellows

Niginakhon Uralova is an assistant professor at Webster University in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She studies Central Asian politics with a focus on Uzbekistan and is interested in modern Islamic political thought as well as the question of political legitimacy. Her research at CAP will examine why public-school teachers in Uzbekistan are leaving their jobs for the private sector or for labor migration.

Javeed Ahwar is a third-year Ph.D. student of Eurasian Studies at Nazarbayev University, Kazakhstan. He is currently conducting part of his research at Humboldt University in Berlin, Germany, with the help of the Erasmus+ Scholarship. His research at CAP will investigate the role of language ideology in the formation of the modern nations of Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan from 1800 to the 1950s. His research interests include linguistic nationalism, state-building, modernization, and modern literature.

Albina Yun works as a program manager at the 139 Documentary Center, a cultural platform for artists, activists, and researchers in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. She holds an MA in Critical Gender Studies from the Central European University and an MA in Politics and Security from the OSCE Academy. Her research at CAP will explore the concept of mahalla and how it can be employed in grassroots activism; facilitate the new paradigm of destigmatization; and reclaim everyday history, legacy and urban landscapes in Tashkent. Her areas of interest include migratory processes, ethnocentrism, post-colonial and post-Soviet theories, biopolitics, affect theory, and gender studies.

Tansaya Khajikhan holds an MA in economic governance and development from the OSCE Academy in Bishkek. She works as a data analyst at Barloworld Mongolia and as a part-time researcher at the National Statistics Office of Mongolia. Her research at CAP will investigate gender differences in households’ expenditure on higher education in Mongolia. Her research interests include gender-related issues, socio-economic development, and social inequality.

Aizhan Erisheva holds an MA in Economic Governance and Development from the OSCE Academy and a BA in World Economy from Alatoo International University, Kyrgyzstan. Over the last few years, she has implemented various development projects designed to increase civic engagement, reduce poverty, enhance employability, and protect the socio-economic rights of vulnerable groups. Her research interests include socio-economic development, migration and employability issues, gender, and social discontent. While at CAP, she will focus on male engagement and gender issues in Kyrgyzstan.

Kasiet Ysmanova is a Communications Manager and Researcher at Central Asia Barometer. She holds an MA in Politics and Security from the OSCE Academy and a BA in International Relations from Manas University, Kyrgyzstan. She also studied at Hacettepe University in Turkey as an exchange student and worked at the Kyrgyz Embassy in Ankara for a year. In addition, she has worked at Jogorku Kenesh, the Ministry of Education and Science of the Kyrgyz Republic, and the Vienna office of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly. At CAB, she and her colleagues are currently in the fieldwork stage of the project “United Central Asia: Obstacles, Opportunities, Prospects,” conducted in partnership with the Rosa-Luxemburg-Stiftung Central Asia. They will conduct public opinion surveys, focus groups, and in-depth interviews in 4 Central Asian countries with the goal of learning about the prospects of Central Asian integration. Her paper for CAP will attempt to provide analysis and policy suggestions for different interest groups based on the data collected.

Waris Ahmad Faizi is from Afghanistan. He holds an MA in economic governance and development from the OSCE Academy (2020) and an MBA from the partnership between Ball State University (US) and Kabul University (2017). He also holds a one-year diploma in leadership development from Morning Star Development, an American NGO. He is currently working at Capital Region Development Authority, one of Afghanistan’s public development organizations, as a Senior Economic Development Specialist. He also works as an Economic Consultant—Research Specialist at Pearl Horizon Consultancy, focusing on World Bank Group research and development projects in Afghanistan. His research at CAP will explore the impact of the Belt & Road Initiative on Afghanistan’s political economy. His research interests include economic development, international development, political economy, poverty, and globalization.

Andrei Shvarev, A native of St. Petersburg, Russia, Andrei Shvarev has studied at the Higher School of Economics, University College London, Peking University, and the OSCE. It was at the OSCE that he discovered a passion for politics, state-building, and public policy. He has expanded upon these interests by leading a project at the Red Cross, chairing international conferences, and working as a civil servant for one of the ministries in his home country. As a Fellow at CAP, Andrei will explore how Chinese foreign direct investments within the framework of the Belt and Road Initiative have been affecting the rule of law and transformation processes in Central Asia. He hopes that his time at CAP will allow him to deepen his understanding of the intersection of investment, state-building, and judicial performance in the region. Outside of academics, Andrei enjoys skiing, traveling, art, and foreign languages.

Central Asia-Azerbaijan Fellowship Program

Fall 2021 CAAFP Fellows

Previous CAAFP Fellows and Their Publications

Spring 2021

Fall 2019

Spring 2019

Fall 2018