Zaur Shiriyev

Zaur Shiriyev

Analyst, South Caucasus
Baku, Azerbaijan

Crisis Group Role

Zaur Shiriyev is Crisis Group’s Analyst for South Caucasus. Based in Baku, he produces analyses and reports on security and foreign policy issues, including the protracted conflicts in the South Caucasus region. He focuses in particular on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, as well as Azerbaijan’s relations with regional actors, including Türkiye, Russia and Iran.

Areas of Expertise

  • Foreign and national security policies of the South Caucasus states
  • Security, conflict resolution and energy issues in the post-Soviet space
  • Azerbaijan and Turkish foreign policy
     

Professional Background

Zaur Shiriyev has more than ten years of experience in academia and think-tanks, with expertise in security, conflict resolution and foreign policy issues pertaining to the broader South Caucasus region.

Prior to joining Crisis Group in February 2018, he was an Academy Associate with the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, from 2015. He has been active in expert level Track 2 meetings on the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict since 2008, and most recently, served as coordinator of the PeaCE programme, aimed at strengthening and re-engaging Azerbaijani civil society and youth from geographic areas affected by the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict in peacebuilding activities.

He was a senior research fellow at ADA University, Baku, from May 2014 to March 2017. Previously, he worked as leading research fellow at the Center for Strategic Studies (SAM) from 2009 to 2014 in Baku, Azerbaijan, the Turkish Asian Center for Strategic Studies in Istanbul and International Strategic Research Organisation in Ankara.


He is a frequent contributor to several journals and magazines, including EurasiaNet, CACI Analyst, Eurasia Daily Monitor and has previous editorial and journalistic experience in Azerbaijan and Türkiye. Zaur has published numerous articles and commentaries and co-edited The Geopolitical Scene of the Caucasus: A Decade of Perspectives (Istanbul; 2013) and Energy Security and Geopolitics in Southeast Europe and Azerbaijan (Washington, DC; 2015).

Languages

  • Azerbaijani (native)
  • English (fluent)
  • Turkish (fluent)
  • Russian (fluent)
  • French (conversant)

Publications

In The News

25 nov 2023
Azerbaijan does not trust Western incentives for peace talks … [Azerbaijanis] would like to see more emphasis on issues such as investments and reconstruction. Nu.NL

Zaur Shiriyev

Analyst, South Caucasus
19 sep 2023
[Azerbaijan] redrew the map in the 2020 war [over Nagorno-Karabakh] and now seeks a peace settlement with Armenia but on its own terms. Newsweek

Zaur Shiriyev

Analyst, South Caucasus
26 dec 2022
The fate of the Karabakh Armenians is a core issue for ending the hostility between the two countries [Armenia and Azerbaijan]. No one has laid out what’s the best way. Foreign Policy

Zaur Shiriyev

Analyst, South Caucasus

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