International Development Policy Scholar, Social Scientist, Writer, and Independent Consultant
Dr. Elsa Talat Khwaja is an independent research scholar, international development consultant, and writer. She received her PhD in Public Policy from George Mason University Schar School of Policy and Government in August, 2021. There she studied international development policy in Pakistan and Afghanistan, specializing in qualitative research methods, fragile states, and social capital. She has previously worked with American Councils for International Education, Chemonics International, the Aspen Institute, the Embassy of Pakistan, and the Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training in Washington D.C. Dr. Khwaja was a Brent Scowcroft Award Fellow at the Aspen Strategy Group. She has also worked with the All Pakistan Women’s Association and the Human Rights Commission in Karachi, Pakistan. She received her Masters in Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh and Bachelors in Political Science and Global Studies at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities.
Dr. Khwaja has published in the SAGE Handbook of Research Methods in Political Science and International Relations, Policy Futures in Education, and the Journal of Asian Public Policy. She is a member of the American Pakistan Foundation’s National Leadership Council, Society for International Development - USA, and Women in International Security.
Dr. Khwaja’s research involves international development policy and foreign aid effectiveness in fragile and conflict-affected areas (FCAS). Exploring the cases of Afghanistan and Pakistan through an enhanced understanding of the social capital-aid effectiveness-fragility nexus, her main concern is how material and/or non-material exchanges among social networks of international donor agencies and recipient organizations potentially help or hinder aid-delivery processes in fragile and conflict-afflicted spaces.
Dr. Khwaja was awarded the Smith Foundation’s World Politics and Statecraft Fellowship for her doctoral fieldwork in Pakistan, as well as the Daniel Druckman Fellowship for Peace and Conflict Resolution.