John Gordon Stewart Drysdale (21 May 1925 – 10 July 2016), also known as Abbas Idriss, was a British-born army officer, diplomat, writer, historian, and businessman.

It was the Somalis' inconquerable spirit in battle which impressed British officers who served with them in the Burma Campaign.

In the years following independence, John Drysdale served as a representative of the British Foreign Service to the Somali Republic.

[12] During Drysdale's service in 1963, the British decided against unifying the Somali-inhabited Northern Frontier District (NFD) with Somalia post-Kenya's independence.

He also founded the Asia Research Bulletin, which was published in Singapore in a partnership with the Straits Times Group.

[2] Singapore's longest serving police chief, Goh Yong Hong, described Drysdale as a foreign expert on Singaporean society.

[19] Drysdale pushed against the idea of UNOSOM II forces conducting disarmament in Somalia, as he believed it was impossible.

[20] He was a vocal supporter of political reconciliation with Gen. Mohammed Farah Aidid and the Somali National Alliance instead of the UNOSOM manhunt that followed the 5 June attack on the Pakistanis.

[4] The following year he wrote and published a book on the failures of the United Nations Intervention based on his experiences titled Whatever Happened to Somalia.

[2] In 1993, John Drysdale moved to Hargeisa,[23] working in part as an advisor to then-President Muhammad Haji Ibrahim Egal.

[27] A UN report later noted that it was, "...clear that Drysdale’s in-depth knowledge of the people of the area and the community-based methodology (involving elders in verification) were crucial to the success of the programme and its impact on peace"[28] In 2002, he became a member of the first Board of Trustees of Edna Adan Hospital in Hargeisa.

[29] In 2009, Drysdale converted to Islam at ceremony held in Hargeisa's main Mosque and changed his name to Abbas Idris and became an official Somaliland citizen shortly after.