Dr. Noel Brehony, after completing a Ph.D. on Libya, spent two years on post-doctoral research on the West Bank before joining the Foreign and Commonwealth Office where he worked mainly on the Middle East with postings to Kuwait, Yemen, Jordan and Egypt. He was then Director of Middle East Affairs at Rolls-Royce plc and is now Chairman of Menas Associates (www.menas.co.uk). In addition he has held the following positions: Chairman, Middle East Association 1996-97; President, British Society of Middle East Studies 2000-2006; Chairman, Council for British Research in the Levant 2002-2008; Chairman, British Yemeni Society (2010 to present). He is on the committee of the British Foundation for the Study of Arabia, a trustee of the Altajir Trust, and a member of the Advisory Board of the London Middle East Institute at SOAS. His book “Yemen Divided” was published by I.B. Tauris London in 2013. He was the coconvenor of the conference “Yemen: Challenges for the Future” held on January 11-12, 2013 at SOAS. He also contributed to the book “Why Yemen Matters: a Society in Transition” to be published by Saqi in 2014.