Has held policy positions across government, academia and think tanks, including working with both the military and civilian staffs of the Pentagon, in the White House at the National Security Council, and at the US State Department as Deputy Head of Policy Planning. As Deputy Director-General, International Institute for Strategic Studies, oversees the institute’s research programme and acts as a driving force behind initiatives to enhance its work and profile, including developing new funding opportunities and deepening links with governments, the private sector, and the expert and opinion-forming communities internationally on strategic issues. Author of a number of books, most recently Safe Passage, an account of the transition from UK to US power on the global stage (2017).