Dr William D. James

I am an Assistant Professor of Strategic Studies and Coordinator of the MSc (Strategic Studies) Programme at RSIS, NTU Singapore. I am also the Sir Eyre Crowe Adjunct Fellow in Grand Strategy at the London-based Council on Geostrategy, and a Visiting Fellow at the Italian Navy's Centre for Military Maritime Studies in Venice.

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My work spans alliance politics and grand strategy, with particular interests in UK defence policy, transatlantic relations, and the growing security ties between Europe and the Indo-Pacific. I also study the history of strategic thought, currently through a Singapore Ministry of Education-funded project comparing how pre-modern civilian strategists, from Kautilya to Elizabeth I, understood war, power, and security – and asking whether their ideas still resonate today.

 

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. I have also held non-resident fellowships with the University of Notre Dame and the Royal Navy's Strategic Studies Centre.

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I am the author of British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony (Oxford University Press, 2024) and co-editor (with Professor Greg Kennedy) of Transatlantic Storms in Anglo-American Relations: How the Alliance Weathers Crises (Georgetown University Press, 2026). My work has been published in academic journals such as International Affairs and the Journal of Strategic Studies, as well as outlets such as War on the Rocks and Engelsberg Ideas. I also comment regularly on international affairs for broadcasters such as BBC News and CNA.

 

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. In addition, I regularly provide support and historically informed analyses to civil servants and the armed forces. I have also written policy papers for think tanks such as the Council on Geostrategy and the UK in a Changing Europe.

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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 Durham University, where I was the beneficiary of the Vice-Chancellor’s Award 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.