Dr. Anuar Ayazbekov is a Director of the Institute of Diplomacy of the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Prior to joining the Institute of Diplomacy he worked at the Graduate School of Public Policy at Nazarbayev University; the Department of Foreign Policy Analysis and Forecasting of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Kazakhstan; the Analytical Department of the Administration of the President of Kazakhstan in Astana; and the Kazakhstan Institute for Strategic Studies in Almaty. He also was a visiting research fellow at the Japan Institute for International Affairs. Dr. Ayazbekov’s interests include Central Asian politics, foreign policy analysis and historiography of Kazakhstan diplomacy. Dr. Ayazbekov holds a PhD in International Relations from the University of St. Andrews, UK (2014), an MA in International Diplomacy from Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia (2004), and a BA in International Relations from KIMEP University in Almaty, Kazakhstan (2003).