Dr. William James  (Research Associate at the Centre for Grand Strategy, King’s College London)

Moderator: Dr. Takuya Matsuda (Project Researcher RCAST at the University of Tokyo)

Date/Time: May 7, 2024, 5:00-6:30 pm (JST UTC+9); May 7 2024 9:00-10:30 am (GMT) 

Format: Zoom Webinar 

Language: English

Registration: Free of Charge. 

Please register through this link. (A registration link in English would be made available later in April) 

You can also register through this link as well. (Japanese only) 

What kind of grand strategy did the United Kingdom pursue under American hegemony? Dr. William James, has recently published a new book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony that addresses this question.It illustrates British diplomacy as an ally of the United States, drawing upon three historical studies that examines, World War II, the British withdrawal from the East of Suez in the 1960s and 1970s, and the 2003 Iraq War. The book demonstrates that British policymakers have thought in grand strategic terms under American hegemony. The book offers numerous food for thoughts that are also highly relevant to Japanese foreign policy where the alliance with the United States serves as a critical pillar for peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific. 

During this book launch webinar, Dr. James will introduce the main argument of his book and discuss one of this case studies that examines the Anglo-American alliance during World War 2. 

Please find more details about Dr. James’ new book in this link. 

Speaker Bio:

Dr. William James is a Research Associate at the Centre for Grand Strategy as an Ax:son Johnson Research Fellow since August 2022. He is also a Senior Associate of the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre. William holds a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Between 2018 and 2020, William was based in the United States as a research fellow at MIT’s Security Studies Program and at Harvard Kennedy School’s Belfer Center. In 2020-21, he was a non-resident Hans J. Morgenthau fellow at the University of Notre Dame. William’s first book, British Grand Strategy in the Age of American Hegemony, was published by Oxford University Press in early 2024. His work has also been published in 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.