Professor Brenda Shaffer is a specialist on energy and foreign policy, energy security polices, the Caucasus, Azerbaijan, ethnic politics in Iran, Caspian energy and Eastern Mediterranean energy issues. She currently is a Visiting Researcher at Georgetown University’s Center for Eurasian, Russian and East European Studies (CERES). Prof. Shaffer is on sabbatical from the University of Haifa, where she is a faculty member in the School of Political Science. Brenda previously served as the Research Director of the Caspian Studies Program at Harvard University. She has served as a Visiting Professor at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy. Prof. Shaffer serves as a lecturer and advisor on the Caucasus and energy issues to a number of governments and organizations. She has given Congressional testimony, including on US policy in the Caspian region and Iran’s activity in the South Caucasus. Prof. 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.