George I. H. Cooke is a diplomatic historian. He was recruited to the Sri Lanka Foreign Service, and served for more than a decade before leaving for an academic career. Whilst stationed at the Embassy of Sri Lanka in Paris, he was also at the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO). He pursued his tertiary education at the University of Colombo and the Open University of Sri Lanka, and is an alumnus of the Netherlands Institute of International Relations – Clingendael. He is currently the Deputy Director of the Bandaranaike Centre for International Studies and a visiting lecturer at the Sri Lanka Air Force Academy, the Defence Services Command and Staff College, the University of Colombo, and the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute. He was a Visiting Fellow at the Ubon Ratchathani University, Thailand. His main areas of research include diplomacy, foreign policy, regionalism and integration.