Jeremy Jones has an Oxford-based consulting business and has worked on Oman since the 1980s. His first book Negotiating Change: The New Politics of the Middle East anticipated the Arab Spring.
Nicholas Ridout is the only professor of theatre who also writes and researches extensively on the history and politics of the Middle East. He has worked with Jeremy Jones on research in Oman since 1989, alongside his successful career as an academic in theatre and performance studies.