Developments in Iran and Their Regional Implications

ISDP FORUM with Dr. Brenda Shaffer

School of Political Science and Department of Asian Studies, University of Haifa

Tuesday, May 25, 2010, 10:00-12:00

Developments in Iran related to the stability of the regime and Tehran’s nuclear program have important regional and international implications. Dr. Brenda Shaffer will discuss the meaning of the developments in Iran for regional stability, trends in the global oil market, and future natural gas export projects. The lecture will discuss positions and policies of various involved powers, including Russia and China, and neighboring states in the Caucasus and Middle East.

Dr. Brenda Shaffer is faculty member in the School of Political Science and Department of Asian Studies at the University of Haifa. She served in 2008-09 as the President of the Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association (APSA). She has served as a Visiting Professor at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Dr. Shaffer previously served as the Research Director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard University. Her research focuses on the Caucasus, Central Asia, the link between culture and foreign policy, and energy and politics. Dr. Shaffer takes a special interest in Caspian energy issues, ethnic politics in Iran, and the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict. Her most recent publication is the book Energy Politics (University of Pennsylvania Press, 2009). Dr. Shaffer is also the author of Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity (MIT Press, 2002). Brenda is the editor of the book The Limits of Culture: Islam and Foreign Policy (MIT Press, 2006). Among her recent articles is “The Geopolitics of the Caucasus” (Brown Journal of World Affairs, May 2009). She serves as a lecturer and consultant on the Caspian region to a number of public organizations, governments and regional security organizations, including NATO. Dr. Shaffer’s op-eds have appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Wall Street Journal, the International Herald Tribune, Christian Science Monitor and the Boston Globe.

Location: ISDP, Västra Finnbodavägen 2, Stockholm-Nacka. For a map and directions, please go here.

To attend: RSVP to Ms. Martina Klimesova at mklimesova@isdp.eu