 Following a first posting in Santiago he became First Secretary in Beirut and later Political Agent in Dubai, followed by a brief stint in Bahrain as Deputy to William Luce.He was appointed Ambassador to Iraq in 1969, Ambassador to Jordan in July 1972 and then Ambassador to Tunisia 1975-77.Having retired from the diplomatic service aged 60, Balfour Paul became Director-General of the Middle East Association in London before joining Exeter University as a Research Fellow in the Centre for Arab Gulf Studies.