Dr Anar Shaikenova is a senior researcher in the DPRK Strategic Research Center at KIMEP University, Kazakhstan, and an assistant professor in the Department of Public Administration. Before joining the PhD programme, she worked with USAID, the Asian Development Bank and the US Department of State EXBS Programme on strategic trade controls in Kazakhstan and in the Central Asian region. Dr Shaikenova has a PhD in public policy from Nazarbayev University and an MA in public administration from the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, US.