The Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS) is pleased to announce the appointment of Mr. Didier Chaudet and Ms. Farzana Marie as visiting fellows.

Mr. Didier Chaudet is the Head of the Programme on Iranian and South Asian Studies at European Institute for Prospective and Security (IPSE), a French think tank based in Paris. He was a Visiting Research Fellow at IPRI (Islamabad Policy Research Institute) during the academic year 2013-2014. Presently he is a Visiting Research Fellow at Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies, focusing on Afghan regional diplomacy.

Previously, Mr. Chaudet had been a Research Fellow at the Institute for South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore (2012-2013), in charge of Pakistani affairs and Afghan diplomatic and security-related issues; a Lecturer at the Institute for Political Studies in Paris (2007-2011), teaching about Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Central Asia; a Research Fellow at the French Institute for International Relations (IFRI), one of the most important think tanks in Paris (2008), in charge of Central Asian and Afghan affairs; and a Fox Fellow at Yale University (2006-2007).

Ms. Felisa Hervey (Farzana Marie) is a poet and PhD candidate, studying Persian literature and creative writing at the University of Arizona. Her current research focus is contemporary Afghan women’s poetry, while serving part-time with AISS as a consultant and visiting researcher. Farzana has a Master of Arts degree in English Literature from the University of Massachusetts, Boston, and a Bachelor of Science in the Humanities from the United States Air Force Academy. She served over six years on active duty as an Air Force officer, and has spent over three years in Afghanistan in both military and civilian roles, including two years deployed in outreach and anti-corruption capacities.