Dr. Neil Melvin is Director International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI). His current research is focused on emerging international security dynamics in key regions around the world, notably Europe and Eurasia, the Gulf and Middle East, East Africa and the Horn, and the Indo-Pacific. His recent publications have focused on the new external security politics of the Horn of Africa and Indian Ocean, and the Black Sea region.

Prior to joining RUSI, Dr. Melvin was Director of the Armed Conflict and Conflict Management Programme and then Director of Research at the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). He has held senior adviser positions in the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, the Energy Charter, the European Union, and has been a consultant for the United Nations. Dr. Melvin has also held positions at the Centre for European Policy Studies and Chatham House, as well as several universities.

Dr. Melvin holds a DPhil from Oxford University. He has been a visiting fellow at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and the Department of Government of the London School of Economics.