Before joining UBC, he was a Research Associate with the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) and the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS). He holds an MSc, MBA and DPhil (Oxford). Working on linkages between environment, development and security, he has published widely on natural resources and armed conflicts, the political economy of war, and corruption. His two latest books are Wars of Plunder: Conflicts, Profits and the Politics of Resources (Columbia UP, 2012) and The Geopolitics of Oil (Polity Press, 2012 with Gavin Bridge).