Dr Sean Keeling is a native of Northern Ireland. After obtaining a BA (First Class Hons) and MSc (Econ) from the University of Wales, Sean joined the then UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in 1998 as an enthusiastic Research Analyst in the Middle East and North Africa Research Group. In 2001, building on his university studies, he joined the Diplomatic Service Language Centre to study Arabic and later achieved a Double First. Sean served in the FCO for 20 years and worked across a wide range of foreign policy and national security issues. He resided from 2002 until 2018 in the Middle East. During this period, he spent five years researching, designing, developing and delivering a range of training and capability development programmes for a range of international partners. From 2013 to 2018, Sean undertook and completed his PhD at CSTPV at the University of St Andrews under the supervision of Dr Tim Wilson. More recently, he has been working with the RAND Corporation on a series of research projects focused on online ecosystems and cyber security, and growing a specialist research and training consultancy with likeminded colleagues. Sean is particularly interested in how research excellence, practitioner experience and leadership can be used to improve the performance of complex organisations..