{"id":934,"date":"2014-10-24T14:29:18","date_gmt":"2014-10-24T14:29:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=934"},"modified":"2014-10-24T14:30:08","modified_gmt":"2014-10-24T14:30:08","slug":"934","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/covcasbulletin.info\/?p=934","title":{"rendered":"Sparks Fly Over Scholar\u2019s Azerbaijani Ties At Columbia University Event"},"content":{"rendered":"

By CARL SCHRECK
\nRFE\/RL<\/em><\/p>\n

WASHINGTON — A political scientist\u2019s ties to Azerbaijan’s state-owned energy giant SOCAR sparked a testy exchange at a Columbia University discussion on European energy on October 23 when a student asked the scholar about her ties to the firm.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A business card identifying Brenda Shaffer as an adviser to SOCAR.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Brenda Shaffer, a professor at Israel’s University of Haifa, responded to a question about her failure to disclose her links to SOCAR by grilling her interlocutor — journalist and Columbia graduate student Casey Michel — about his cholesterol, love life, and finances.<\/p>\n

\u201cPart of the American way is a right to privacy,\u201d Shaffer replied. \u201cLike, if I asked you, Casey, ‘OK, what\u2019s your wife\u2019s name? What school do you go to? Who funds your scholarship right now? Where do you work? How do you pay your meals? \u2026 What\u2019s your cholesterol count?\u2019 There\u2019s nothing to be ashamed of in any of those answers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The sharp response came during a question-and-answer session at an event titled \u201cSouthern Gas Corridor: Progress and Challenges\u201d held in New York at Columbia\u2019s Center on Global Energy Policy. The event\u2019s main speaker was SOCAR Deputy Vice President Vitaliy Baylarbayov.<\/p>\n

Michel asked Shaffer to address a decision by “The New York Times\u201d to attach an editor\u2019s note to her September 9 commentary<\/a> on Azerbaijani-Armenian tensions, stating that the piece “did not disclose that the writer has been an adviser to Azerbaijan’s state-run oil company.”<\/p>\n

Shaffer said she believes her students \u201cbenefit from the fact that I have been on every side of the table.\u201d<\/p>\n

But she accused Michel of ignoring the subject of her piece, namely \u201cRussia\u2019s intervention in the South Caucasus, and how they played a role in the loss of lives between both Armenians and Azerbaijanis and the danger that this is for the region and for U.S. policy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cYou come in and try to…pick apart everything in my background or whatever. Why don\u2019t you, instead of shooting the messenger, why don\u2019t you look at my message?\u201d Shaffer said.<\/p>\n

Michel replied that he had no problem with the content of her article and repeated that he was interested in a comment on Shaffer\u2019s failure to disclose her affiliation with SOCAR, according to an audio recording of the exchange made available to RFE\/RL.<\/p>\n

\u201cLike I said, I\u2019m not going to ask you your cholesterol count,\u201d Shaffer said. \u201cI mean, who pays your scholarship, Casey? How do you pay your tuition?\u201d<\/p>\n

The moderator of the event then steered the discussion back to the SOCAR-led Southern Gas Corridor, which Azerbaijan is pushing as a key route to lessening Europe\u2019s reliance on Russian gas in the wake of the Ukraine crisis.<\/p>\n

SOCAR Adviser<\/strong><\/p>\n

Azerbaijan\u2019s critics have accused Baku of touting its role as an energy partner for Europe and the United States while downplaying its human rights record<\/a>, which Western officials and rights groups say has deteriorated precipitously in recent months.<\/p>\n

Shaffer, who is currently a visiting researcher at the Center for Eurasian, Russian, and East European Studies (CEREES) at Georgetown University, is among the most visible figures promoting this role for Azerbaijan in the media and in Washington.<\/p>\n

As RFE\/RL\u2019s Robert Coalson reported in September<\/a>, in many of these public appearances Shaffer does not mention that she has served as an adviser<\/a> to SOCAR President Rovnag Abdullayev.<\/p>\n

“The New York Times\u201d attached its editor\u2019s note to Shaffer\u2019s op-ed after the newspaper was shown a photograph of her business card identifying her as an adviser for \u201cstrategic affairs\u201d to the SOCAR president, according to the report.<\/p>\n

Panelist Or Moderator?<\/strong><\/p>\n

Shaffer\u2019s precise role at the Columbia University event this week was also unclear.<\/p>\n

Shaffer was described as the \u201cmoderator,\u201d according to an archived version<\/a> of the announcement posted on the Center on Global Energy Policy\u2019s website as recently as October 19.<\/p>\n

The updated version<\/a>, however, lists the moderator as Jesse McCormick, the center\u2019s associate director, and does not mention Shaffer.<\/p>\n

McCormick introduced Shaffer at the event as a \u201cpanelist,\u201d prompting Shaffer to quickly correct him, according to a recording from the event.<\/p>\n

\u201cModerator,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Ke Wei, the center\u2019s program coordinator, referred questions about the decision to replace Shaffer as the listed moderator to an outside public relations firm, BerlinRosen. A message left with the firm seeking comment went unreturned on October 23.<\/p>\n

Neither Shaffer nor SOCAR\u2019s U.S. representatives responded to requests for comment.<\/p>\n

Also unclear is the precise role that Columbia\u2019s respected Harriman Institute for Russian, Eurasian, and East European Studies — where Michel is a second-year student — played in the SOCAR event.<\/p>\n

Just days prior to the event, the institute\u2019s website featured an announcement inviting those interested to join \u201cthe Center on Global Energy Policy and the Harriman Institute\u201d for the discussion, according to an archived version<\/a> of the page.<\/p>\n

But that announcement, which also listed Shaffer as the moderator, was later scrubbed from the site<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Neither of the original announcements mentioned Shaffer\u2019s affiliation with SOCAR.<\/p>\n

Alexander Cooley, deputy director of the Harriman Institute, told RFE\/RL that the institute \u201cwas not a co-sponsor of this event or even affiliated with it\u201d and that the announcement on its website \u201cwas inaccurate and was removed to reflect our actual nonaffiliation with the event.\u201d<\/p>\n

Asked about printed promotional materials for the event that prominently mentioned both Columbia\u2019s Center on Global Energy Policy and the Harriman Institute, Cooley said the institute had \u201cno further comment on this matter.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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