Shivan Fazil

Hello! I am Shivan Fazil, doctoral researcher and graduate fellow in Political Science at Boston University, specializing in comparative politics and international relations with a focus on the Middle East.

On this website, you will find information about my research interests, experience and publications and other activities that I am passionate about. Read the blurb below and explore the menu to learn more, happy reading!

My work centers on governance, state–society relations, and peace and conflict dynamics. Over the past decade, I have collaborated with leading international and regional institutions, including the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani’s Institute of Regional and International Studies (2024), the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (2020–2024), the United States Institute of Peace (2019–2020), Oxfam GB (2017), and the Middle East Research Institute (2015–2016), among others.

Since the summer of 2023, I have been teaching a session on “The Kurds in Iraq” at the Foreign Service Institute’s School of Professional and Area Studies (U.S. Department of State), as part of the Institute’s Iraq Familiarization Program. The session explores the Kurds’ long struggle for recognition and autonomy in the Middle East, the emergence of Kurdish self-rule in Iraq following the 1991 Gulf War, and the contemporary dynamics of governance, state-building, and politics in the region. I also frequently contribute expert analysis on Iraq and the Kurdistan Region’s political, social, and economic developments to international news outlets.