My name is Kyle W. Orton.

I was a a contributing editor at Left Foot Forward between September 2015 and March 2016. Media appearances can be found here, and am on Twitter here.

Between March 2016 and January 2018, I worked as a Research Fellow at the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank.

I have written for The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, NOW Lebanon, The International Business Times, The Independent, The New Arab, and a number of others.

After a misbegotten degree in zoology (biology), I completed a social science Masters at Liverpool University that comprised elements of geopolitics, history, and practical skills in running a humanitarian program, the logical end-point of which would be work with a non-governmental organisation.

I have travelled in Eastern Europe, to all of the old Soviet satellite States except Romania, and the Balkans—Bosnia, Serbia, and Croatia. I have also been to Turkey and Israel, took part in a voluntary course (teaching) in Kenya, and worked in Lebanon for my Masters on the healthcare system for the Syrian refugees.

Having long been interested in the Arab world, and especially in ways that it might be reformed, I was very interested when the rebellions came to that region at the end of 2010, and followed the course of this “Arab Spring” from its inception. The carnage in Syria and its obvious importance for that whole region have made the subject my primary focus.