SIPA: School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University

SIPA Faculty

Rafis Abazov
International Affairs Building, 13th Floor
Adjunct Lecturer of International and Public Affairs
Phone: 212-854-0016
ra2044@columbia.edu

Biography:
Rafis Abazov is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Harriman Institute/School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. He has been a faculty member at Columbia University since 2003.

Rafis Abazov’s research interests include public policy and governance, democratization and population movement in the former Soviet Union with a focus on Central Asia. His teaching interests cover modern politics, and modern world history, particularly such issues as history of colonialism and developmental studies. He began his career as a Central Asian regional analyst and consultant for Russian and international media organizations. Dr. Abazov was contracted as a consultant for different projects, including the Freedom House’s Nations in Transit project, the annual reports of Transition-On-Line on Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan. He was awarded the NATO research fellowship for research on foreign policy formation in Central Asia; the Institute of Advanced Studies of the United Nations University and the British Academy visiting fellowship.

Rafis Abazov has written four books and a number of other publications on economic and political development in Eurasia. His most recent books include Historical Dictionary of Kyrgyzstan (Scarecrow Press, 2004),
Historical Dictionary of Turkmenistan (Scarecrow Press, 2005),
Tajikistan (Cultures of the World) (Marshall Cavendish, 2006)
The Cultures and Customs of the Central Asian Republics (Greenwood Press, December 2006)
Palgrave Concise Historical Atlas Of Central Asia (Palgrave, 2007)

and some others. His research articles were published in Eurasian Studies, the Central Asian Survey, Nationalities Papers, Post-Communist Economies and some others. He has also contributed articles to the Encyclopaedia of Modern Asia (2003), the Encyclopaedia of Nationalism (2001), the Encyclopaedia of National Economies (2002), and some others.

In 2005-2006 academic year Rafis Abazov supervised an EPD-UNDP Kyrgyzstan joint project on good governance. in 2006-2007 academic year he plans to supervise an EPD World Bank joint project on sustainable energy sector development in Kazakhstan.

Rafis Abazov graduated from Kyrgyz National University (1989) and earned his Ph.D. in Political Science in Moscow, Russia (1994).

Research Interests: Public Policy