Aijan Sharshenova

Dr. Aijan Sharshenova is a Senior Fellow at Crossroads Central Asia and a Leading Researcher with the Populist Encounters research group at Riga Stradiņš University. She also serves as a Research Fellow at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

She holds a PhD in Politics from the University of Leeds and two Master’s degrees in International Studies and EU Studies. She recently completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the OSCE Academy in Bishkek, where she examined Russian public diplomacy in Central Asia.

Alongside her academic work, Dr. Sharshenova has professional experience in international development, including positions within the UN system in the Middle East. She has published on Central Asia’s relations with the EU, Russia, and China, as well as on domestic political developments in Kyrgyzstan.

She teaches courses on international politics, Central Asian politics, Russian politics, research methods in the social sciences, and research ethics.

Contact: aijan [at] crossroads-ca.org