Dr William D. James

I am an Assistant Professor in Strategic Studies at RSIS, NTU Singapore. I am also the Sir Eyre Crowe Associate Fellow in Grand Strategy at the London-based Council on Geostrategy and an associate fellow of the Royal Navy's Strategic Studies Centre in Portsmouth, UK.

 

My research interests include: transatlantic relations, alliance politics, UK defence policy, grand strategy, the changing character of war, and European security. I am particularly interested in projects that bridge the gap between the academic and policy worlds.

 

I earned a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford (my thesis was assessed by Professor Neil MacFarlane and Professor John Bew). Prior to moving to Singapore, I held full-time research fellowships at MIT's Security Studies Program, Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre, and the Centre for Grand Strategy at King's College London. 

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My first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, was published with Oxford University Press in early 2024. My work has been published in academic journals such as the European Journal of International Security and International Politics, as well as outlets such as War on the Rocks and Engelsberg Ideas. I have also written for the UK in a Changing Europe, a think tank that produces independent research on UK-EU relations.

 

One of my goals is to produce academically rigorous research which is accessible and useful for policymakers. To that end, I have submitted written evidence to three parliamentary inquiries on British foreign policy. I also regularly provide support and historically informed analyses to civil servants and the armed forces. 

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In December 2020, I won the Royal United Services Institute's Trench Gascoigne essay competition for original writing on defence and security. The prize, which dates back to 1874, was presented by the UK Chief of the Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, and former Deputy Prime Minister, Sir David Lidington. I was previously awarded joint second place in the same competition in 2018. Both essays have been published in the RUSI Journal. 

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I hold a First in Politics from the University of Durham, where I was the beneficiary of a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship for Academic Excellence. I then studied for an MPhil in International Relations at the University of Cambridge, for which I was awarded a Distinction. Between finishing my studies in Cambridge and commencing the DPhil at Oxford, I worked in the private sector and volunteered on two national political campaigns in Australia and the UK. 

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Outside of work, I enjoy cooking, travelling, learning French, swimming, scuba-diving, and playing squash. I am also a long-suffering fan of both Liverpool FC and Bath Rugby.