Shivan Fazil is a PhD Candidate in Political Science at Boston University, specializing in comparative politics and international relations with a focus on the Middle East. His research focuses on governance, state–society relations, and peace and conflict studies, with emphasis on the politics of power-sharing and the role of external actors in resolving violent conflict and promoting peace settlements.

He is the co-editor of Youth Identity, Politics and Change in Contemporary Kurdistan Region of Iraq. He has received numerous fellowships, grants, and scholarships for research and pursuing graduate studies. His scholarly work has appeared in Studies in Ethnicity and Nationalism, International Peacekeeping, International Journal of Conflict and Violence, and Oxford Monitor of Forced Migration, while his public-facing writing has appeared in the Middle East Institute, Atlantic Council, SIPRI, Arab Reform Initiative, London School of Economics Middle East Center, New Security Beat, Amwaj Media, and the New Arab.

He has held research positions with numerous research and policy institutions. He was a Senior Researcher at the American University of Iraq, Sulaimani (2024) and a researcher at SIPRI (2020–2024). Earlier, he worked with the United States Institute of Peace (2019–2020) as Program Specialist, Oxfam GB (2017) as Policy Officer, and the Middle East Research Institute (2015–2016) as Director of Communications.

He has taught at the U.S. Department of State's Foreign Service Institute, as part of the School of Professional and Area Studies' Iraq Familiarization Program, focusing on the Kurds' long struggle for autonomy in the Middle East, the emergence of Kurdish self-rule after the 1991 Gulf War, and the contemporary dynamics of governance, state-building, and politics in Iraq.

He regularly provides expert analysis on political, social, and economic developments related to Iraq and the Middle East to international media, and has been interviewed by outlets including CNN, Al Monitor, Reuters, the Economist, Foreign Policy, AFP, NBC News, and France 24.