Academic Profile : Faculty

Asst Prof William David James.jpg picture
Dr William David James
Assistant Professor, S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies
External Links
 
Dr William D. James is an Assistant Professor in Strategic Studies at RSIS, NTU Singapore. William’s research interests include: transatlantic relations, alliance politics, UK defence policy, grand strategy, the changing character of war, and European security.

William earned a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Between his doctoral studies and joining NTU, he 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.

William’s first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, was published with Oxford University Press in early 2024. His 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. One of William’s goals is to produce academically rigorous research which is accessible and useful for policymakers. To that end, he has submitted written evidence to three parliamentary inquiries on British foreign policy. In December 2020, he won the Royal United Services Institute’s Trench Gascoigne essay competition for original writing on defence and security.
- Alliance politics
- Grand strategy
- UK foreign & defence policy
- Transatlantic relations
- The changing character of war
- European security
- Europe in the Indo-Pacific
 
Awards
Royal United Services Institute
Trench Gascoigne Essay Prize (1st prize), December 2020
Essay title: ‘Between a pandemic and a hard Brexit: grand strategic thinking in age of nationalism, great power competition and human insecurity’
 
Fellowships & Other Recognition
Sir Eyre Crowe Associate Fellow in Grand Strategy, Council on Geostrategy, July 2024 -

Associate Fellow, Royal Navy's Strategic Studies Centre, April 2024 -

King’s College London
Ax:son Johnson Research Fellow, Centre for Grand Strategy, August 2022 – August 2024

University of Oxford
Senior Associate, Changing Character of War Centre, Pembroke College, August 2022 – July 2024

University of Oxford
Transatlantic Defence Research Fellow, Changing Character of War Centre (CCW), Pembroke College, August 2020 – August 2022

University of Notre Dame
Non-resident Hans J. Morgenthau Fellow, International Security Center, July 2020 – July 2021

Harvard University
Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Postdoctoral Fellow, Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center, International Security Program, July 2019 – June 2020

Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Grand Strategy, Security, and Statecraft Predoctoral Fellow, Security Studies Program, August 2018 – June 2019
 
Courses Taught
Military Alliances and Security Cooperation (T2)