Author Archive

Cindy May

Cindy May is a Lecturer in the Defence Studies Department at King’s College London. Prior to joining King’s, Cindy completed her PhD in Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge. Her doctoral thesis entitled “United States Presidential Decision-Making and the Use of Force during Crises in the Middle East and North Africa: 1979-2009” examined the American use of force in the Middle East and North Africa, utilising the Iran Hostage Crisis (1979), the Bombing of Libya (1986), the Gulf War (1991), and the Iraq War (2003) as case studies.

During the PhD she supervised undergraduate students in Politics at the University of Cambridge as a tutorial supervisor. Prior to her doctoral work Cindy received a B.A. in Politics, International Studies, and Spanish from Butler University (USA) and a MPhil in International Relations from the University of Cambridge.

Cindy has previously worked on two occasions at the U.S. State Department in the Bureau of Intelligence and Research and the Political and Military Affairs Bureau. She has also served as a researcher for the UK Defence Forum Defence Viewpoints publication.

Since the fall of President Mubarak, the Sinai has become an area of increasing lawlessness and instability. The region has turned into a base for drug smuggling, weapons smuggling, human trafficking, and a wide array of militant activity. The Sinai’s border with Israel and its proximity to the Suez Canal make it an area of vital strategic importance and its deterioration has the potential to threaten regional stability, the Egyptian-Israeli peace accords, and Cairo’s relations with the West.