Joseph Epstein is an expert in geopolitical analysis, specializing in the intersection of security, infrastructure, and political risk across Eurasia and the Middle East. He serves as the Director of the Turan Research Center, a Washington-based institute dedicated to tracking strategic, economic, and social developments across the Turkic world and the broader post-Soviet space. Concurrently, he holds appointments as a Senior Fellow at the Yorktown Institute, an Expert at the N7 Foundation, and a Research Fellow within the Post-Soviet Conflicts Research Program at Bar Ilan University’s Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies (BESA).

He holds a degree from Columbia University in Political Science and Soviet Studies and is fluent in Russian and Hebrew. In general, his research focuses on geopolitical dynamics and foreign policy in Central Asia and the Caucasus.  His analyses and commentary frequently appear in leading international publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy, and The National Interest, and he serves on the advisory board of the Alekain Foundation.