Will James convincingly challenges the notion that British governments don't 'do' grand strategy or strategy at all. They do - the issue is whether they do it well. Doing it better requires being properly appraised of geopolitical realities, informed by an understanding of history. The book's Conclusion offers some well-founded suggestions to Ministers and officials which are highly relevant to strategy-making in what the Government itself describes as 'a more contested and volatile world'.
Dr William D. James is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Grand Strategy at King's College London and a Senior Associate of the Oxford Changing Character of War Centre. He has previously held fellowships at MIT, Harvard, and the University of Notre Dame. William earned a DPhil in International Relations from the University of Oxford. Beyond his academic publishing, he writes for outlets such as War on the Rocks and Engelsberg Ideas. William has also contributed evidence to three parliamentary inquiries on British foreign policy. In 2020, he won RUSI's Trench Gascoigne Prize for original writing on defence and security.