Roger Kangas joined the Near East South Asia Center in 2007. He previously served as the Professor of Central Asian Studies at the George C. Marshall Center for European Security in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany and as the Deputy Director of the Central Asian Institute, Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS), Central Asian Course Coordinator, Foreign Service Institute, US Department of State; Research Analyst on Central Asian Affairs, Open Media Research Institute (OMRI) in Prague, Czech Republic, and an Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Mississippi.

During the past fifteen years, Dr. Kangas has been an advisor to NATO/ISAF, the US Air Force Special Operations School, National Democratic Institute, International Research and Exchanges Board, American Councils, Academy for Educational Development, USIA, USAID, and other US government agencies on issues relating to Central and south Asia, Russia and the Southern Caucasus. He is also an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University.

Education
• Ph.D., Political Science, Indiana University
• B.S.F.S., Comparative Politics, Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University

Areas of Interest
• Central and South Asia
• Former Soviet Union
• Transnational Threats and Terrorism
• International Security Organizations
• Energy Security

Suggested Readings
• Coll, S. (2004). Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001. New York: Penguin Books.
• Hopkirk, P. (1992). The Great Game: The Struggle for Empire in Central Asia. New York: Kodansha Int'l.
• Rashid, A. (2003). Jihad: The Rise of Militant Islam in Central Asia. New York: Penguin Books.
• Yergin, D. (1993). The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power. New York: The Free Press.