After retiring from the Foreign Service in 2011, he worked in the corporate sector in Dubai for four years. He is now a full-time academic and holds the Ram Sathe Chair in International Studies, at Symbiosis International (Deemed University), Pune.
He has published four books: Reform in the Arab World: External Influences and Regional Debates (2005); Children of Abraham at War: The Clash of Messianic Militarisms (2010), and The Islamist Challenge in West Asia: Doctrinal and Political Competitions after the Arab Spring (2013). His latest book, West Asia at War: Repression, Resistance and Great Power Games, was published in early April this year.