The International Peace Institute (IPI) is pleased to announce that Ambassador Abdullah M. Alsaidi is joining IPI as a Senior Fellow to work on Middle East issues over the coming months.

Ambassador Alsaidi was the Permanent Representative of Yemen to the United Nations from 2002 until his resignation last week in response to the killing of dozens of demonstrators by pro-government forces in Sanaa.

He has played a prominent role at the UN in his capacity as Permanent Representative. He has also held important government positions, including Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2002 and member of the National Arbitration Committee with Eritrea over the Hanish Islands from 1996 to 2002.

He received his BA degree in political science from Long Island University in 1975 and his MA in political science from Columbia University in 1982. Ambassador Alsaidi has been a close friend of IPI for many years, and was a co-chair of IPI’s task forces on strengthening multilateral security capacity in 2008.

Terje Rød-Larsen, IPI’s President, welcomed Ambassador Alsaidi, saying, “His considerable experience both as a high-level diplomat and as an academic will be a strong asset for IPI in helping the UN and its partners better understand ongoing developments in the Middle East.”

Read more about IPI’s Middle East program