Sir Mark Allen – “Wake-up Call or Call to Prayer? War and Peace in the Middle East”

Sir Mark Allen became a special adviser to the BP Group in October 2004. He studied Arabic and Turkish at Oxford University and joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1973. He did further Arabic training at MECAS (1974) and then served as Third Secretary in Abu Dhabi (1975-77), working on internal politics and oil in the aftermath of the Arab oil embargo. He served in Cairo (1978-81), again working on internal politics, and then as First Secretary (Finance and Economic) in Belgrade (1982-86), supporting UK’s role in annual Paris Club rescheduling of Yugoslav debt and relations with the IMF. He dealt with East European affairs in London (1986-90) before returning to the Middle East as Counsellor (Political) in Amman (1990-94).
In London, Sir Mark was later responsible for work on countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, for operational work in Africa and the Middle East and counter terrorism. Finally he was responsible for Global Issues including terrorism, WMD and strategic crime. His latest book, Arabs, was published in June 2006.
Mark is an Honorary Fellow of St Antony’s College, Oxford and a senior adviser to Palantir Technologies. He sits on a variety of advisory boards and is a trustee of St. John and St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in London. He was appointed CMG in 2002 and knighted in 2005.