YCISS talk looks at energy security in the Caspian Sea Basin

Farid Shafiyev, ambassador to Canada from the Republic of Azerbaijan, will talk about energy security in the Caspian Sea Basin as part of the York Centre for International & Security Studies (YCISS) Post-Communist Studies Program Afternoon Seminar Series.

“Energy Security and the New Geopolitics of the Caspian Sea Basin” will run Wednesday, March 17, from 11:30am to 1pm at 524 York Research Tower, Keele campus.

Right: Farid Shafiyev

Shafiyev’s talk will focus on the key political and economic issues in the Caspian Sea Basin and the wider international security implications of developments in the region. He will outline the main characteristics of this increasingly important region, review and post-Soviet transition problems of the region’s countries and existing international conflicts in the Caucasus.

Open discussion will follow the lecture. The talk is an opportunity for a unique insight into developments in the region which links the Caucasus and Central Asia, as well as their relevance to global security.

In 1996, Shafiyev joined the Azerbaijan Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His assignments included a posting to the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations in New York City from 1998 to 2001. In 2005, he was posted as counsellor at the Embassy of Azerbaijan in Canada. From 2007 to 2009, he served as chargé d’affaires and was promoted to ambassador in May 2009. Shafiyev is the author of several academic publications and has lectured on international security at Western University in Baku, Azerbaijan.

For more information, visit the YCISS Web site.