He is currently an Associate Fellow of Chatham House, a Strand Leader for the Middle East and North Africa at Cambridge University’s Centre for Geopolitics and a Senior Fellow at Policy Exchange, the London-based think tank. Between 1980 and 2015 he served as a British diplomat, initially in Abu Dhabi (1983-86), Malaysia (1989-92) and Kuwait (1995-98) before being appointed HM Ambassador to Burma (1999-2002). He was subsequently HM Consul-General, Jerusalem (2003-06), Ambassador to Syria (2006-07), FCO Director for the Middle East and North Africa (2007-09), Ambassador to Iraq (2009-11), Special Representative to the National Transitional Council and subsequently Ambassador to Libya (2011) and Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (2012-2015). Between 2015 and 2017 he was Executive Director of The Institute for Strategic Studies – Middle East and a Senior Fellow at the Yale Jackson Institute for Global Affairs, teaching three courses on Middle Eastern Politics he held a BA (Double First Class Honours) and a PhD from Jesus College, Cambridge. He also studied at The School of Oriental and African Studies in London (Arabic and Burmese) and through the FCO with the London and Ashridge Business Schools.