Washington, D.C. th Georgetown University alumnus Munir Jawed (SFS '08), of Wilton, Conn. was selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to receive a Fulbright award to Azerbaijan. While living in Baku, Azerbaijan's capital, Jawed will study the relationship between independence and oil leading up to the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic (ADR, 1918-1920), conducting archival research and interviews with experts on Azerbaijan's political and oil history.
(Media-Newswire.com) - Washington, D.C. – Georgetown University alumnus Munir Jawed ( SFS ’08 ), of Wilton, Conn. was selected by the J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board to receive a Fulbright award to Azerbaijan. While living in Baku, Azerbaijan’s capital, Jawed will study the relationship between independence and oil leading up to the Azerbaijani Democratic Republic ( ADR, 1918-1920 ), conducting archival research and interviews with experts on Azerbaijan’s political and oil history.
“I will analyze how the oil boom, from its initial stages in the 1800s, created a climate in Baku that helped sow the seeds of statehood,” Jawed wrote in his application. “I am particularly interested in the emergence and success of the Musavat Party, whose success rested largely on the finances provided by Azerbaijan’s famous oil baron, Haji Zeynalabdin Taghiyev. I will also examine how the involvement of foreigners in Baku’s oil bonanza, such as the Nobel Brothers, the Rothschilds, and the Rockefellers, influenced the social and political climate of the ADR until the new nation-state fell to the Bolsheviks in 1920.” Jawed then hopes to draw parallels with the post-Soviet Republic of Azerbaijan, which experienced independence in 1991.
At Georgetown, Jawed was a John Carroll Fellow and was a Department of Homeland Security Scholar. He received his bachelor’s degree in international politics.
“Munir has developed a commitment to understanding and helping to alter the noxious combination of oil wealth and authoritarianism in which many countries around the world—from the middle East to Central Asia—are mired,” said Charles King, Ion Ratiu Professor of Romanian Studies and Professor of International Affairs and Government. “This is a serious and well-formed history project, but it is also one that I believe will help Azerbaijanis understand more about a critical period in their own history: the first stirrings of democracy in the early decades of the twentieth century.
The J. William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship Board was established by Congress for the purpose of supervising the Fulbright Program and certain programs authorized by the Fulbright-Hays Act and for the purpose of selecting students, scholars, teachers, trainees, and other persons to participate in the educational exchange programs. Appointed by the President of the United States, the 12-member Board meets quarterly in Washington, D.C. The Board maintains a close relationship with both the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs ( ECA ) at the U.S. Department of State and the executive directors of all the binational Fulbright Commissions. Since its inception more than 30 years ago, nearly 300,000 Fulbrighters have participated in the program. More information is available here: http://fulbright.state.gov/.
About Georgetown University
Georgetown University is the oldest and largest Catholic and Jesuit university in America, founded in 1789 by Archbishop John Carroll. Georgetown today is a major student-centered, international, research university offering respected undergraduate, graduate and professional programs in Washington, DC, Doha, Qatar and around the world. For more information about Georgetown University, visit www.georgetown.edu.
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