In this lecture based on his recent published book, The Clandestine Lives of Colonel David Smiley, Professor Clive Jones focuses primarily on Col David Smiley’s role as Commander of the Sultan of Oman’s Armed Forces between 1958-61. Here he was instrumental in defeating a Saudi backed insurgency in the strategically important Sultanate of Oman that secured, longer term, Britain’s oil and commercial interests. Equally, however, it also examines why his political masters in London refused to recognise his leadership in this most secret of campaigns.

Notice is hereby given that the Twenty- seventh Annual General Meeting of the Society will be held at 5.30pm on Friday 19th June 2020.  The AGM will be held online by Zoom which all members of the B-YS are invited to join. The AGM will be followed at 6.00pm by a panel of speakers on the theme of Health and Covid19 in Yemen

Russia’s resurgence as a great power in the Middle East and the Gulf region, in particular, has received widespread attention in recent months. In spite of this scrutiny, Russia’s diplomatic involvement and geopolitical interests in Yemen have been largely overlooked. The lecture draws attention to this under-explored, but increasingly important dimension of Russian foreign policy, by outlining the history of Russia-Yemen relations since unification in 1990 and exploring Moscow’s position towards the current conflict.