Francis Owtram has a PhD in International Relations from the London School of Economics. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of Exeter and Gulf History Specialist, at the British Library. Publications include A Modern History of Oman: Formation of the State Since 1920 and he co-edited Citizenship in Transition: New Perspectives on Transnational Migration From the Middle East to Europe. He taught Politics and IR at the University of Kurdistan Hewler, 2007-2012.

His current research focuses on the history, politics and international relations of Oman, and the Kurds in the Middle East state system. He tweets @francisowtram