Brenda Shaffer

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Brenda Shaffer (born c. 1965) is an American scholar who holds positions as Fellow with the Atlantic Council and professor at University of Haifa (on sabbatical). Shaffer was the former research director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard Kennedy School and past president of the Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association. She specializes on energy in international relations and energy policy in the Caspian region and has written or edited several books of these topics, including "Energy Politics" and "Beyond the Resource Curse." Shaffer has also written a number of books on the topic of identity and culture in the Caucasus including explorations of Azeri literature and culture. She has been accused of lobbying for Azerbaijan and failing to disclose conflicts of interest. [1] According to the 2019 book Lobbying in the European Union: Strategies, Dynamics and Trends, published by Springer: "research shows that her [Shaffer's] entire career has benefitted from financial support from sources tied to Azerbaijan's leadership". [2]

Contents

Biography

Shaffer was born in the United States in about 1965. She grew up in the San Francisco Bay area, attending Burlingame High School (California). In 1982, while still at high school, she made her first visit to the USSR. [3] She received her Ph.D. from Tel Aviv University and a nonresident senior fellow with the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. [4] She is on sabbatical from the University of Haifa, where she is a professor in the School of Political Science. [5]

Previously, Shaffer taught at the department of Asian Studies and at the Graduate School of Management, division of natural resources management, at the University of Haifa. [6] and was the research director of the Caspian Studies Project at Harvard Kennedy School, [7] where she had been a postdoctoral fellow at the International Security Program. Shaffer has also held positions as president of the Foreign Policy Section of the American Political Science Association, researcher and policy analyst for the Government of Israel and visiting professor with the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy, [8] and she provides energy industry research and consulting to businesses and governments.

Shaffer is the author or editor of a number of books and has given congressional testimonies on several occasions in front of the United States House Committee on Foreign Affairs on issues related to U.S. policy in the Caspian region. [9]

Short Bio

Lobbying for Azerbaijan

She has been referred to as a lobbyist on behalf of Azerbaijan, and has faced criticism over her writing of political articles and books related to Azerbaijan while hiding her commercial ties to the Azerbaijani government. [10] [11] [12] [13] [14]

The Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) described Brenda Shaffer as a Lobbyist, who "used oil money to build her academic credentials" and in exchange promoted pro-Azerbaijani positions, for example concerning Nagorno-Karabakh, and lobbied for Baku's agendas through multiple newspaper op-eds and media appearances, congressional testimony, countless think tank events and scholarly publications. [15] [16]

Publications

Books

Book chapters and other publications

Criticisms

Shaffer's book, "Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity" received criticism from Touraj Atabaki, a professor of social history at the University of Amsterdam and a senior research fellow at the International Institute of Social History, who wrote that "Borders and Brethren is an excellent example of how a political agenda can dehistoricize and decontextualize history". [23] [24]

Shaffer's article "U.S. Policy toward the Caspian Region: Recommendations for the Bush Administration" has also created controversy with regards to the objectivity of Harvard's Caspian Studies Program. Ken Silverstein, of Harper's Magazine, in an article titled "Academics for Hire", wrote that "Harvard's Caspian Studies Program receives a lot of money from both the oil companies and from some of the governments... As I had previously reported, the Caspian Studies Program (CSP) was launched in 1999 with a $1 million grant from the United States‒Azerbaijan Chamber of Commerce (USACC) and a consortium of companies led by ExxonMobil and Chevron Corporation. The program's other funders include Amerada Hess Corporation, ConocoPhillips, Unocal, and Glencore International... [25]

Shaffer has also drawn criticism for writing on geostrategic issues regarding Azerbaijan under her academic affiliations, while working as a consultant to the President of SOCAR, the State Oil Company of Azerbaijan. [26] [2] On September 17, 2014, The New York Times published an editor's note to highlight that Shaffer did not disclose her affiliation to SOCAR when publishing an Op-Ed in its pages about the conflict in Nagorno-Karabakh. [27] This has drawn criticism in other notable news outlets. [28] [29] In the 2019 book Lobbying in the European Union: Strategies, Dynamics and Trends, Shaffer is mentioned as an example of a scholar who has been caught moonlighting as a lobbyist, which in turn has damaged the reputation of the Atlantic Council, of which Shaffer continues to serve as a Nonresidential Senior Fellow. [2] The book explains that Shaffer, whilst a member of the Atlanic Council and without her disclosure of being on SOCAR's payroll, has consistently tried to present Azerbaijan as supposedly being on the verge of becoming a democratic country, and has persistently tried to convince the US government to provide support for the ruling Aliyev regime of Azerbaijan. [2] The book adds: "research shows that her [Shaffer's] entire career has benefitted from financial support from sources tied to Azerbaijan's leadership". [2]

In 2021, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists published an essay by Shaffer arguing that Armenia, with which Azerbaijan had just fought a war, should close its only nuclear power plant. The essay did not disclose Shaffer's financial interests. [30] Discussing the incident, Eurasianet commented that "[t]o Caucasus watchers intrigued and depressed by the way Baku uses its oil wealth to buy praise and influence abroad, Shaffer is infamous." [31]

Related Research Articles

The State Oil Company of the Republic of Azerbaijan, largely known by its abbreviation SOCAR, is a fully state-owned national oil and gas company headquartered in Baku, Azerbaijan. The company produces oil and natural gas from onshore and offshore fields in the Azerbaijani segment of the Caspian Sea. It operates the country's only oil refinery, one gas processing plant and runs several oil and gas export pipelines throughout the country. It owns fuel filling station networks under the SOCAR brand in Azerbaijan, Turkey, Georgia, Ukraine, Romania, Switzerland, and Austria.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of Azerbaijan</span>

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References

  1. ↑ Coalson, Robert (18 September 2014). "Azerbaijan's Opinion-Shaping Campaign Reaches 'The New York Times'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Bruckner, Till (2019). "Navigating the Grey Zones of Third-Party Lobbying via Nonprofits: Transparity's Experiences with Think Thanks and Fake News". In Dialer, Doris; Richter, Margarethe (eds.). Lobbying in the European Union: Strategies, Dynamics and Trends. Springer. p. 331. ISBN   978-3319988009.
  3. ↑ "The Security, Economic and Human Rights Dimensions of US-Azerbaijan Relations". Csce.gov. 19 May 2016. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  4. ↑ "Brenda Shaffer". Atlanticcouncil.org. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  5. ↑ "Lecturers: Prof. Brenda Shaffer, School of Political Sciences". Archived from the original on 2015-02-27. Retrieved 2016-04-30.
  6. ↑ "University of Haifa. School of Political Sciences - Faculty: Dr. Brenda Shaffer". Archived from the original on 2013-09-29. Retrieved 2013-05-12.
  7. ↑ "Brenda Shaffer - Harvard - Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs". Archived from the original on 2008-10-09. Retrieved 2008-08-16.
  8. ↑ "Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy". Archived from the original on 2013-09-08. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
  9. ↑ "Hearing Details - House Committee on Foreign Affairs". Archived from the original on 2013-02-15. Retrieved 2013-09-08.
  10. ↑ Bruckner, Till; ContributorTranspariMED; Transparify (2015-06-25). "Foreign Lobbyist Gets Free Platform at Georgetown University, Atlantic Council". HuffPost. Retrieved 2020-09-29.{{cite web}}: |last2= has generic name (help)
  11. ↑ OCCRP. "How Azerbaijan Built a Stealth Lobbyist". Occrp.org. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  12. ↑ Coalson, Robert (18 September 2014). "Azerbaijan's Opinion-Shaping Campaign Reaches 'The New York Times'". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2020-09-29.
  13. ↑ Schreck, Carl (24 October 2014). "Sparks Fly Over Scholar's Azerbaijani Ties At Columbia University Event". Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  14. ↑ "Azerbaijan and Think Tanks". The New York Times. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 2020-10-07.
  15. ↑ "How to Build Yourself a Stealth Lobbyist, Azerbaijani style". OCCRP. 2015-06-22. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  16. ↑ "Svante Cornell's dealings in Azerbaijan despite funding from MFA of Sweden". Blankspot. 2022-05-09. Retrieved 2023-07-17.
  17. ↑ "Beyond the Resource Curse | Brenda Shaffer, Taleh Ziyadov". Upenn.edu.
  18. ↑ "Energy Politics | Brenda Shaffer". Upenn.edu.
  19. ↑ Scott Pegg. "Review of Brenda Shaffer, Energy Politics", Perspectives on Politics, March 2011, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 129-132
  20. ↑ "Camron Michael Amin. "Review of Brenda Shaffer, Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity," H-Gender-MidEast, H-Net Reviews, August, 2003.Zwebsite=H-net.org". August 2003. Retrieved 2021-02-02.
  21. ↑ "Borders and Brethren - the MIT Press". Archived from the original on 2010-07-21. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  22. ↑ "The Caucasus and Caspian Region: Understanding U.S. Interests and Policy". commdocs.house.gov.
  23. ↑ Touraj Atabaki, Review of "Brenda Shaffer, Borders and Brethren, Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijan Identity", In Slavic Review, 63:1 (2004)
  24. ↑ Borders and Brethren: Iran and the Challenge of Azerbaijani Identity, azargoshnasp.net
  25. ↑ "Academics for Hire - Tuesday, May 30, 2006". Archived from the original on August 1, 2012. Retrieved August 1, 2012.
  26. ↑ Energy Charter Secretariat (20 March 2013). "WORKSHOP ON CONTRACTUAL ISSUES RELATED TO ENERGY TRADE" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 September 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  27. ↑ "Disclosure Update". The New York Times . September 17, 2014. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
  28. ↑ Bruckner, Till (November 22, 2014). "U.S. Foreign Policy Manipulation via Media Is Systemic, Warns Expert". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 2020-09-22.
  29. ↑ "Armenia's nuclear power plant is dangerous. Time to close it". Thebulletin.org. 5 March 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  30. ↑ "Pro-Azerbaijan American urges Armenia to close nuclear plant | Eurasianet". Eurasianet.org. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
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