A former career diplomat with the British foreign service (1985-2005), Alastair served in sub-Saharan Africa, Paris (at the OECD) and the US. In London, he worked in intelligence coordination (including during the Persian Gulf War), policy planning and economic relations, as well as running the Prime Minister's G7/8 team from 1998 to 2000.

In addition to his signature periodical Issues Which Keep Me Awake At Night on political and geopolitical risk, he was the co-author of major studies on China, India, Iran and Israel, Indonesia, North Korea and geopolitical risks related to the shift of the global economic center of gravity back towards Asia, alongside numerous shorter papers. 

Alastair is a past-President of the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies. He served on the Council of Chatham House from 2010 to 2015. He is currently a member of the Practitioners’ Advisory Board of the journal Global Policy; and a guest editor of the journal Arab Digest.

In addition to his regular reports published by the macro research consultancy Heteronomics, he is a frequent commentator on politics on television and radio and a regular speaker at conferences and other events worldwide.

Alastair is one of the world’s top private-sector political analysts. He runs his own business development and political risk consultancy, Alavan, based in Livingstone, Zambia. Additionally, he is Chair of Paris-based Qalis Partners and Lusaka-based 30Thirty Capital, and CFO of Livingstone-based Diamond Development Company.