Murad Ismayilov

Murad Ismayilov is a doctoral researcher at Politics, Psychology, Sociology and International Studies (PPSIS), the University of Cambridge. He holds an M.St. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge (2009) and an M.A. in International Relations from Baku State University (2004).  In 2005, he completed a four-month NATO Senior Executive Program at the NATO Studies Centre in Bucharest (Romania).  He earlier served as an OSI AFP Returning Scholar/Lecturer at the Department of International Relations, Baku State University (2006-2009); Editor-in-Chief of Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy’s Azerbaijan in the World online publication (2008-2013), as well as Program Manager for Research and Publications, Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (2009-2011). He has been awarded fellowships and research and visiting scholar grants from Open Society Institute Europe Foundation; Aleksanteri Institute (Finland); Norwegian Institute of International Affairs (NUPI); Michigan State University’s Center for European, Russian and Eurasian Studies (CERES); the Institute for European, Russian, and Eurasian Studies (the Elliott School of International Affairs, the George Washington University); and NATO Studies Centre (Bucharest, Romania).  His research interests include political and social theory (with a focus on critical approaches), history and politics of modernity, postcolonial theory, sociology and political economy of post-Soviet development (with a thematic focus on social stratification and class; education; healthcare; Islam, nationalism, identity and state-society relations), social movements, sociology and political economy of power, sociology of class, sociology and politics of knowledge, sociology of intellectuals, sociology and security of the Middle East, sociology and political economy of religion, as well as Islamic theology and Islamic political thought. He is co-editor of Turkish-Azerbaijani Relations: One Nation—Two States? (Routledge, 2016) and Identity and Politics in Central Asia and the Caucasus (Routledge, 2015). He has also authored a number of academic articles and book chapters, including placements in refereed journals and edited volumes.