James Sharp worked in the UK Foreign Office from 1987 to 2022, including a four year secondment to the Home Office. His final post was as British Ambassador to Azerbaijan, having earlier served as Ambassador to Kazakhstan and (non-resident) Kyrgyzstan from 2002-05. He has had a number of other roles dealing with former Soviet countries, including at the OSCE in Vienna, and a short stint covering for the Ambassador to Turkmenistan.  He also spent several years at home and overseas specialising in migration issues (including in Hong Kong as the UK Border Agency’s Asia Pacific Director). His initial focus lay in the Middle East, having read Modern Middle Eastern Studies at university and having worked for British Aerospace in Saudi Arabia, before serving at the British Embassy in Cairo.