Dr. Vali Kouzehgar Kaleji holds a Ph. D. in Regional Studies, Central Asia and Caucasian Studies from the Faculty of Law and Political Science at the University of Tehran. He is a Researcher at the Center for Strategic Studies (CSS) in Tehran. Dr. Kaleji is author of research and policy papers on Central Asia and the Caucasus. Among his publications are The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO): Goals, Functions and Perspectives (2010), South Caucasus as a Regional Security Complex, foreword by Shirin Akiner (2014), Iran, Russia and China in Central Asia, Cooperation and Conflict with US Foreign Policy in Central Asia, Foreword by Sergey Markedonov (2015) and US Foreign Policy in Central Asia: Process and Perspectives by International Studies of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (IPIS), Tehran, Iran (2016).