Advisory Council
H.E. Dr. Hafiz Pashayev
Chairperson of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council. He was a Deputy Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan and founding Rector of ADA University (formerly Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy) since 2006. He previously served as the inaugural Ambassador of Azerbaijan to the United States (1993‑2006). At the time of his appointment, he was Director of the Metal Physics Laboratory at the Physics Institute of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, where he had been employed in various positions since receiving an undergraduate degree in Physics from Baku State University in 1964. He received his doctorate in Physics from Baku State University in 1984, having previously received an advanced degree in 1971 from the Kurchatov Research Institute of Atomic Energy in Moscow, on the basis of which he was awarded a prestigious post‑graduate research fellowship at the University of California at Irvine (1975‑1976). He is the author of two major books, Racing Up the Hill and Manifesto of an Ambassador.
H.E. Mr. Nasimi Aghayev
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Federal Republic of Germany. He served at the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Washington, D.C. as a counselor for political and public affairs. He joined Azerbaijan's diplomatic service in 1999. Nasimi Aghayev also currently serves as Dean of the Los Angeles Consular Corps. He previously held diplomatic postings in Washington, DC (2010‑2012), Berlin (2005‑2008), and Vienna (2000‑2003). A former Visiting Scholar at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto (2009), he has been trained at the Vienna Diplomatic Academy and holds a degree in European law (LL.M) from the Europa Institut of Saarland University in addition to degrees in international relations (M.A., B.A.) from Baku State University. He is a former Editor in Chief of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs. He also served as the editor‑in‑chief of the Caucasian Review of International Affairs and published a book on Humanitarian Intervention and International Law in German in 2007.
H.E. Mr. Hikmet Çetin
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council. He served as NATO Secretary General’s Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan (2003‑2006), Speaker of the Grand National Assembly of Turkey (1997‑1999), Deputy Prime Minister of Turkey on two occasions (1995, 1978‑1979), and Foreign Minister of Turkey (1991‑1994). He holds a degree in Economics of Development (M.A.) from Williams College and one in Economics and Finance (B.A.) from Ankara University. Earlier in his career, Mr. Çetin worked as the head of the Economics Planning Department at the State Planning Organization. Besides being appointed as a member of the Global Leadership Foundation, an organization that works to support democratic leadership, prevent and resolve conflict through mediation and promote good governance in the form of democratic institutions, open markets, human rights, and the rule of law since 2013, he also holds his membership as the Executive Board for the European Leadership Network as well as Honorary Board Member of the Peres Center for Peace.
H.E. Mr. Tedo Japaridze
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council and Vice Chairman for International Relations of the Ankalia Development Consortium. Tedo Japaridze’s carrier started at Tbilisi State where he finished his degree and worked there until 1974. Later positions include Co‑Director of the Energy Security Research Center at the Azerbaijan Diplomatic Academy (2011‑2012), Alternate Director‑General of the International Center for Black Sea Studies (2007‑2011), Public Policy Scholar at the Wilson Center (2006), Secretary‑General of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation–BSEC (2004‑2005), Foreign Minister of Georgia (2003‑2004), National Security Adviser to the President of Georgia (2002‑2003). He served as Ambassador of Georgia to the United States, Canada, and Mexico from 1994 to 2002. He was elected to the Parliament of Georgia on the Georgian Dream ticket in the October 1, 2012 election, and became the chairperson of the parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs on October 21, 2012.
Prof. Dr. Jeffrey Sachs
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council. He is a world‑renowned professor of Economics and Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, SDG Advocate for UN Secretary‑General António Guterres, and Commissioner of the UN Broadband Commission for Development. From 2001 to 2018, he served as Special Advisor to three consecutive UN Secretaries‑General (Kofi Annan, 20012007; Ban Kimoon, 20082016; and António Guterres, 20172018). He served as Director of the Earth Institute from 2002 to 2016, having spent over twenty years as a professor at Harvard University, most recently as the Galen L. Stone Professor of International Trade. He received his B.A., M.A., and Ph.D. degrees at Harvard in Economics and has authored and edited numerous books, including several New York Times bestsellers. In 2019, he was awarded an honorary doctorate in Public policy and Economics from ADA University.
H.E. Mr. Sodik Safayev
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council. He is the First Deputy Chairman of the Senate of the Oliy Majlis of Uzbekistan, a position he has held since 2016, and a former Chairman of its Foreign Policy Committee. He has been a member of the Senate since its establishment in 2005. He twice served as Foreign Minister of Uzbekistan (2003‑2005, 1993) and twice as Ambassador of Uzbekistan (to the United States, 1996‑2001; to Germany, 1993‑1996). From 2002 till 2003, he was Special Representative of the President of Uzbekistan to Afghanistan and in 1996 he served as State Adviser to the President of Uzbekistan. In 1995, he became the rector of the University of World Economy and Diplomacy in Tashkent. As a rector of the university, he made many contributions to the development of ties of the university with institutions abroad and the attraction of external funding. For his work, Sodiq Safoyev was awarded by order of Mekhnat Shukhrati in 2004 and memorial order of “Uzbekiston Mustakilligiga 15 yil” in 2006.
Prof. Dr. Samad Seyidov
He is a member of the editorial board of Baku Dialogues. He earned a degree from Leningrad State University (now Saint Petersburg State University) in 1986 and has obtained two doctorates in Psychology (1989 and 1994). Since 1999 he has been a professor at the Azerbaijan University of Languages, of which he held the position of rector from 2000 to 2015. He is the author of more than 150 scientific books, monographs, and articles. He is a member of the International Association of Analytical Psychology and as a rector of the university, has established close relations with universities abroad. He has been a member of the National Assembly (Milli Majlis) of Azerbaijan since 2001 and is currently Chairman of the Committee on International Relations and Inter‑Parliamentary Relations Milli Majlis, Chairman of the Azerbaijan‑USA Inter‑Parliamentary Working Group, and Head of Azerbaijan's delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe. Has been awarded by the Azerbaijani government for its contributions to the country.
Prof. Dr. S. Frederick Starr
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council and Chairman of the Central Asia Caucasus Institute & Silk Road Studies Program, a research and policy center affiliated with the American Foreign Policy Council and the Institute for Security and Development Policy in Stockholm. He is also a Distinguished Fellow for Eurasia at the American Foreign Policy Institute and served for many years as Research Professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS). Previous positions include President of the Aspen Institute (1994‑1996), President of Oberlin College (1983‑1994), Vice President for Academic Affairs of Tulane University (1979‑1982), and co‑founder and Chairman of the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute (1974‑1979). He served as an advisor on Soviet affairs to U.S. President Ronald Reagan (1985‑1986) and U.S. President George H.W. Bush (1990‑1992). He holds a Ph.D. in history from Princeton University, an MA from King’s College, Cambridge, and a BA from Yale University. He is a trustee of ADA University and Nazarbayev University. He holds five honorary doctorates, including an honorary doctorate in the Humanities from ADA University (2014).
Mr. S. Enders Wimbush
A member of the Baku Dialogues Editorial Advisory Council, President of StrateVarious, and Distinguished Senior Fellow at The Jamestown Foundation. He served as Senior Director for Foreign Policy and Civil Society of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (2011‑2012). Afterward, he served as Governor of the U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (2010‑2012), Senior Vice President for International Programs and Policy at the Hudson Institute (2004‑2010), and Director of Radio Liberty (1987‑1993). In the private sector, he served at Booz Allen Hamilton and Science Applications International, directing analyses of future security environments for both government and corporate clients (1996‑2004). He also founded and directed the Society for Central Asian Studies in Oxford from 1980 to 1987 and served as an analyst of Soviet affairs at the Rand Corporation between 1976 and 1980. He was awarded an M.A. from the University of Chicago’s Committee on International Relations and a B.A. in history from the University of Massachusetts at Boston.