Staff profile

Clive completed his PhD at the University of Wales, Aberystwyth in 1994. His thesis, which examined the political and social impact of the mass migration of Jews from the former Soviet Union upon Israeli conceptions of security was published soon after as a research monograph. Having taught for a year in the Department of International Politics at Aberystwyth, he moved to the University of Leeds where he eventually came to hold a Chair in Middle East Studies and International Politics. After 17 years at Leeds, Clive moved to the School of Government and International Affairs in February 2013 where he now holds a Chair in Regional Security (Middle East). In 2011, Clive was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society and between 2013-16 was the Chair of the European Association of Israel Studies (EAIS). In 2018, he was awarded a Visiting Research Chair at NTNU, Trondheim, Norway. 

Clive’s research interests lie in three related areas: International Relations (particularly with regard to foreign and defence policy decision-making), Middle East studies (with a clear emphasis upon Israel and Gulf Security) and security studies (with emphasis upon low intensity conflict and the political and operational use of intelligence as it relates to the Middle East). His book Britain and the Yemen Civil War 1962-1965 (2004/2010) as well as recent articles in peer reviewed journals such as The Middle East Journal, Middle Eastern Studies, International Affairs, Journal of Strategic Studies, Intelligence and National Security and Studies in Conflict and Terrorism have explored many of these themes. In 2010, his work on British covert involvement in the Yemen civil War during the 1960s was the subject of a BBC documentary http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00r5fk6. In 2019, he was interviewed for the ZDF (Germany) documentary, Geheime Israel: Der Mossad (Secret Israel: The Mossad).

• Israeli foreign and security policy
• Gulf Security
• Civil-Military relations in the Middle East
• Intelligence and National Security

• 2018: Visiting Research Professor : Department of Historical & Classical Studies, NTNU, Trondheim, Norway
• 2013: European Association of Israel Studies: Chair from 2013-2016
• 2011: Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society: In 2011, Professor Clive Jones was elected to a Fellowship of the Royal Historical Society
• 2002: Senior Visiting Research Fellow: In 2002, Professor Jones was a senior visiting research fellow in the Department of Political Science, University of Haifa
• 0000: Co-editor: SSCI ranked journal Civil Wars (2007-10).
• 0000: Editorial Board Member: Middle Eastern Studies, Studies in Conflict and Terrorism, Israel Studies Review, Fathow
• 0000: Plenary lectures: Professor Jones has given plenary lectures and papers to a host of think tanks, research institutes, university departments and government agencies across the world, ;the most recent including:
  • Israeli Intelligence Commemoration Centre Tel Aviv (2018),
  • Royal United Services Institute London (2017),
  • Bahrain Centre for Strategic, International and Energy Studies (DERASAT) Manama (2016),
  • The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Arts, Trondheim (2013).
  • The Sasakawa Peace Foundation in Tokyo (2011),
  • US Army War College in Carlisle PA (2005)

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Available for media contact about:

• International: Defence & disputes: Politics and history of the Israel/Palestine Conflict, Israeli politics, Gulf Security and the role of intelligence services in state creation and consolidation.

Authored book

• Jones, Clive (2019). The Clandestine Lives of Colonel David Smiley: 'Code Name Grin'. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
• Jones, Clive & Guzansky, Yoel (2019). Fraternal Enemies: Israel and the Gulf Monarchies. Hurst/Oxford University Press.
• Jones, Clive (2010). Britain and the Yemen civil War 1962-1965. Brighton: Sussex Academic Press.
• Jones, Clive & Murphy, Emma (2002). Israel: Challenges to Identity, Democracy and the State. London: Routledge.
• Jones, Clive (1996). Soviet Jewish Aliyah: Impact and Implications for Israel and the Middle East. London: Frank Cass.

Chapter in book

• Jones, Clive (2019). Israel and the Gulf-States: Regimes, Rivalry and Regional Security. In Israel in a Turbulent Region: Security and Foreign Policy. Abingdon: Routledge.
• Jones, Clive (2013). Gone But Not Forgotten? The Occasional Lessons of the October 1973 War. In The October 1973 War. Siniver, Asaf London: Hurst. 249-264.
• Jones, Clive (2013). Israel’s Insurgent Citizens: Contesting the State – Demanding the Land. In Islamist Radicalisation in Europe and the Middle East: Reassessing the Causes of Terrorism. Joffé, George London: I. B. Tauris. 200-213.
• Jones, Clive (2012). A Guiding Hand or Controlling Grasp? Britain, Intelligence and the War in Oman 1970-76. In Imperial Crossroads: The Great Powers and the Persian Gulf. Macris, Jeffrey R. & Kelly, Saul Annapolis: U.S. Naval Institute Press. 91-107.
• Jones, Clive (2012). From the deniable to the acceptable?’ Britain, intelligence and covert action in Yemen and Oman, 1962-1976. In Challenging Retrenchment: The United States, Great Britain and the Middle East. Petersen, Tore T. Trondheim: Tapir Academic Press/NTNU. 141-172.
• Jones, Clive (2010). Israel and the Al-Aqsa Intifada: The Conceptzia of Terror’. In International Terrorism Post 9-11. Siniver, Asaf London: Routledge. 126-143.
• Jones, Clive (2008). Britain, Covert Action and the Yemen Civil War 1962-1967. In Britain and the Middle East: From Imperial Power to Junior Partner. Levey, Zach & Podeh, Elie Brighton: Sussex Academic Press. 248-263.
• Jones, Clive (2006). Israel: Major Beneficiary. In The Iraq War: Causes and Consequences. Fawn, Rick & Hinnebusch, Ray London: Lynne Rienner. 187-185.
• Jones, Clive (2002). Israel’s Foreign Policy. In The Foreign Policies of Middle East States. Ehteshami, Anoush & Hinnebusch, Ray London: Lynne Rienner. 115-138.

Edited book

• Jones, Clive & Peterson, Tore (2021). Grand Strategy in the Contemporary Middle East: The Concepts and the Debates. Berlin/London: Gerlach Press.
• Jones, Clive & Brehony, Noel (2020). Britain's Departure from Aden and South Arabia: Without Glory but Without Disaster. Berlin/London: Gerlach Press.
• Jones, Clive (2017). Britain and State Formation in Arabia. London: Routledge.
• Jones, Clive & Pedersen, Tore T. (2013). Israel’s Clandestine Diplomacies. London/New York: Hurst/Oxford University Press.
• Jones, Clive & Catignani, Sergio (2012). Israel and Hizbollah: An Asymmetric Conflict in Historic and Comparative Perspective. London: Routledge.
• Jones, Clive & Pedahzur, Ami (2005). Between Terrorism and Civil Wars: The Al-Aqsa Intifada. London: Routledge.
• Jones, Clive & Kennedy Pipe, Caroline (2000). International Security Issues in a Global Age. London: Frank Cass.

Journal Article

• Jones, Clive (2022). Anthropologists, Topographers, Diplomats, and Spies: Royal Air Force Intelligence Officers in South Arabia 1954–1959. Middle Eastern Studies 58(3): 402-420.
• Jones, Clive (2021). Getting the Better of the Bargain: Technical Intelligence, Arms Sales, and Anglo-Israeli Relations 1967–1974. Diplomacy & Statecraft 32(3): 531-553.
• Jones, Clive (2020). Moving off the Gold Standard: Energy, Security, “Stateness”, and the Nuclearisation of the Gulf. Journal of Arabian Studies 10(1): 190.
• Jones, Clive (2018). Israel’s Security Nexus as Strategic Restraint: The Case of Iran 2009–2013. Journal of Strategic Studies 41(1-2): 160-180.
• Jones, Clive A. & Guzansky, Yoel (2017). Israel's relations with the Gulf states: Toward the emergence of a tacit security regime? Contemporary Security Policy 38(3): 398-419.
• Jones, Clive A. (2014). Military intelligence and the war in Dhofar: An appraisal. Small Wars and Insurgencies 25(3): 628-646.
• Jones, Clive & Milton-Edwards, Beverley (2013). Missing the 'devils' we knew? Israel and Political Islam amid the Arab Awakening. International Affairs 89(2): 399-415.
• Jones, Clive (2012). 'Good Friends in Low Places? The British Secret Intelligence Service and the Jewish Agency 1939-1945'. Middle Eastern Studies 48(3): 413-428.
• Jones, Clive (2011). 'The Tribes that Bind: Yemen and the Paradox of Political Violence'. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism 34(12): 902-916.
• Jones, Clive (2011). 'Military Intelligence, Tribes and Britian's War in Dhofar, 1970-1976'. The Middle East Journal 65(4): 557-574.
• Jones, Clive (2009). What's Left of the Left in Israel? The shadow of the February 2009 National Election. Asian Affairs 41(1): 20-34.
• Jones, Clive (2009). 'The Writing on the Wall: Israel, the Security Barrier and the Future of Zionism'. Mediterranean Politics 14(1): 3-20.
• Jones, Clive (2006). Private Military Companies as "Epistemic Communities”. Civil Wars 8(3-4): 355-372.
• Jones, Clive (2006). Where the state feared to tread: Britain and the Yemen Civil War. Intelligence and National Security 21(5): 717-737.
• Jones, Clive (2004). Among Ministers, Mavericks and Mandarins: Britain, Covert Action and the Yemen Civil War 1962-64. Middle Eastern Studies 40(1): 99-126.
• Jones, Clive (2003). One Size Fits All: Israel, Intelligence and the Al-Aqsa Intifada. Studies in Conflict and Terrorism 26(4): 271-286.
• Jones, Clive (2001). A Reach Greater than the Grasp: Israel, Intelligence and the War in South Lebanon 1990-2000. Intelligence and National Security 16(1): 1-26.
• Jones, Clive (1999). Ideo-theology and the Jewish State: Conflict or Conciliation. British Journal of Middle East Studies 26(1): 9-26.
• Jones, Clive (1999). Israel’s Democracy at Fifty: From Resilience to Residue. Democratization 6(1): 155-178.
• Jones, Clive & Stone, John (1997). Britain and the Arabian Gulf: New Perspectives on Strategic Influence. International Relations 13(4): 1-24.
• Jones, Clive (1997). Israeli counter-insurgency strategy and the War in South Lebanon. Small Wars and Insurgencies 8(3): 82-108.
• Jones, Clive (1995). Saudi Arabia after the Gulf War: The Internal-External Security Dilemma. International Relations 12(6): 31-51.
• Jones, Clive (1994). Arab Responses to Soviet Jewish Aliyah 1989-92. Israel Affairs 1(2): 267-287.