Dr William D. James

I am an Assistant Professor in Strategic Studies 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 of the Royal Navy's Strategic Studies Centre in Portsmouth, UK.

 

My research interests include alliance politics, UK defence policy, grand strategy, the history of strategic thought, transatlantic relations, 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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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 also been published in academic journals such as the European Journal of International Security and the Journal of Strategic Studies, as well as outlets such as War on the Rocks and Engelsberg Ideas. 

 

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 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.