Alyson J.K. Bailes, (United Kingdom) Alyson J.K. Bailes is the Director of the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI)  Before that she served 32 years in the British Diplomatic Service, many of the positions involving arms control, security policy and defence related matters. From 1987 until 1990 she served as Deputy Head of Mission at the Embassy in Beijing, being actively involved in the negotiations on Hong Kong. In 1994-1996 she was head of the FCO Security Policy Department and from 1997 to June 2000 Political Director of the Brussels-based European defence institution, Western European Union. In 2000 she was appointed Ambassador to Finland, a position she held until 2002 when she resigned from the Diplomatic Service to take up her current position at SIPRI.