Dr. Esmira Jafarova was appointed as a Board member of the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center) by the order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan Ilham Aliyev on November 1, 2019.

She got her Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Relations and Law from Baku State University in 2000 and Master of Arts degree in International Relations and European Studies from the Central European University (CEU) in Budapest, Hungary. Esmira Jafarova obtained her Ph.D. degree in Political Sciences from the University of Vienna, Austria. Her dissertation topic was "Achieving security and stability in the region of South Caucasus - what role for international organizations? Study on the role and effectiveness of the UN, the OSCE, the CIS and the EU in facilitation of the conflict resolution in South Caucasus“ . She was a Visiting Scholar at the Harriman Institute of Columbia University, in the city of New York, the United States, during January-August, 2014.

Dr. Jafarova also attended vocational trainings in Vienna Diplomatic Academy (Vienna, Austria, February-April, 2002), George Marshall Center for Security Policy (Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, February-March, 2003), Geneva Center for Security Policy (Geneva, Switzerland October, 2004-May, 2005) and North East South Asia Center Senior Executive Seminar (Washington D.C., February, 2015). 

From 2001 to 2016 Esmira Jafarova held different positions in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan. She served in the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the Republic of Austria in 2005-2009, and in the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the United Nations during Azerbaijan’s membership in the UN Security Council in 2012-2013, where she was in charge of the Middle East portfolio. She was appointed as a Head of NATO/ Partnership for Peace Division of the Department of Politico-Military Issues in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2014.

Dr. Jafarova served as an Assistant Professor of Political Sciences in ADA University in 2016-2017. During her stay in ADA University she taught courses on “Foreign Policy Analysis”, “Diplomacy and Foreign Policy”, “EU Foreign Policy”, “Global Governance”, “Conflict Resolution”, “International Relations Theories”.

She was later appointed as a Head of the International Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Energy in 2017. In August 2018 she became the Adviser to the Minister of Energy of the Republic of Azerbaijan on international issues.

Dr. Jafarova has authored number of peer-reviewed articles, academic publications, including her book “Conflict Resolution in South Caucasus: Challenges to International Efforts” published by Lexington Books (Rowman and Littlefield) in 2015.

Gulshan Pashayeva graduated from the Lomonosov Moscow State University with a degree in “Structural and Applied Linguistics” in 1983. In 1983-2001 she worked as a senior assistant, lecturer, senior lecturer and associate professor at the Department of "General Linguistics" of the Faculty of Philology of Baku State University. G.Pashayeva received her PhD in “Theory of Linguistics” in 1990.

From August to December 1995, G.Pashayeva participated in the international program "Partners in Conflict: Building Bridges to Peace in the Transcaucasus", implemented by the Center for International Development and Conflict Management (CIDCM) of the University of Maryland in College Park (USA). Upon her return to Azerbaijan, she founded the NGO “Conflict Research Center” in 1996 and headed it until 2001. G.Pashayeva also taught several courses at public and private universities in Azerbaijan on the topics of "Regional conflicts", "Negotiation process" and "Mediation". In 1998-1999, for 6 months, she conducted her postdoctoral research project devoted to conflict resolution technique and negotiation process at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University (USA) as a Fulbright Scholar.

In 2001-2006 G.Pashayeva worked as National Programme Coordinator in Azerbaijan for the UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) regional project “Women for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding in the South Caucasus”. She was employed as Public Information Associate in the Azerbaijani office of the United Nations Department of Public Information (UNDPI) in 2007-2009.

Since July 2009 Dr. Pashayeva has operated as a Head of Foreign Policy Analysis Department of the Center for Strategic Studies under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and was appointed the Deputy Director of this Center in January 2011.

She was promoted to the position of a senior consultant in the Office of the President of Republic of Azerbaijan in July 2018 and occupied this position until her appointment as a Board Member of the Center of Analysis of International Relations (AIR Center) in December 2019.

Dr. Gulshan Pashayeva specializes in conflict resolution, security research, gender issues and language policy. In 1996-2022 she participated in more than 120 conferences, seminars and trainings organized in various countries. She is the author of more than one hundred publications, co-editing three books, two of which have been published abroad (“EU Eastern Partnership Agenda: Common Framework or Greater Opportunities?” (2012), “Cooperation in Eurasia: Linking Identity, Security and development” (2016) and “Trapped between war and peace: The case of Nagorno-Karabakh” (2017)).

For fruitful participation in the socio-political life of the country, by Order of the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan dated November 10, 2017, G.Pashayeva was awarded the Tereqqi (Progress) medal.