Dr. Watkins’ news articles and analyses are based on his experience as a foreign correspondent, mainly in the Middle East, Europe, and Central Asia. He lived in Saudi Arabia (1981-88); in Yemen (1989-94); the UK (1988-89 and 1994-2000); and Cyprus (2000-04). Additional assignments have taken him to North Africa, East Africa, the Arabian Gulf, the Caucasus, and Central Asia.

 

During his career, Dr. Watkins’ work has appeared in mainstream media such as The Associated Press, the BBC, the Economist, the Financial Times, and the Wall Street Journal. He also has produced news and news features for the BBC World Service Radio as well as the BBC’s Arabic and African services. He has regularly given interviews to a variety of international broadcast media.

 

Dr. Watkins’ work also has appeared in specialist publications such as Fairplay, Lloyd’s List, and Marine Digest & Cargo Business News, as well as Dialogue, Institute for War and Peace Reporting, Middle East International, The Middle East,and Middle East Economic Survey. Dr. Watkins’ news articles have often appeared in Arabic newspapers, including Al-Hayat, Asharq Al-Awsat, Al-Quds Al-Arabi, and Al-Wasat.

 

Dr. Watkins was a visiting scholar in the Centre of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Cambridge from 1988 to 1989 and has been a fellow of the Institute for Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies at the University of Durham since 1993.

 

On the recommendation of the desert explorer Sir Wilfred Thesiger, Dr. Watkins was elected a fellow of the Royal Geographical Society in 1989 for his contributions to knowledge of the Arabian Peninsula.
 

Dr. Watkins earned his PhD in comparative literature from the University of California at San Diego, and is writing a book documenting the impact of trade on Yemeni history.