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 the 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 Bachelor 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 Political Science Association, Society for International Development - USA, Women in International Security, American Pakistan Foundation, Comparative International Education Society (CIES), International Public Policy Association, International Studies Association, and the United Nations Association, National Capital Area (UNA-NCA).
Dr. Khwaja has over 15 years of professional and academic experience in public and international affairs, foreign policy, and international development. Her research involves international development policy and foreign aid effectiveness in fragile and conflict-affected areas (FCAS). Her doctoral dissertation examined foreign aid program efficacy in vulnerable, rural, fragile, and conflict-affected areas of Pakistan and Afghanistan, from the lens of social capital and network theory. 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.
Writing
Research Interviews
Research Paper Writing
Research & Development
Quantitative Analysis
Business Proposal Writing
Grant Writing
Data Analysis
Research Methods
Academic Research
Conduct Research
International Development
Qualitative Research
