Michael J. Williams

• 2024 Fall
  • PAI 710 International Actors and Issues
• 2024 Spring
  • PAI 706 International Relations Capstone Seminar
  • PAI 700 Selected Topics - St Diplomacy & Grand Strategy
• 2023 Spring
  • PAI 670 Experience Credit
  • PAI 706 International Relations Capstone Seminar
  • PAI 700 Selected Topics - IR Internship
• 2022 Fall
  • PAI 670 Experience Credit
  • PAI 710 International Actors and Issues
  • PAI 700 Selected Topics - IR Internship
• 2022 Summer
  • PAI 670 Experience Credit
  • PAI 706 International Relations Capstone Seminar
  • PAI 700 Selected Topics - TransAtlan Rel Mult Pol Wrld
• 2022 Spring
  • PAI 670 Experience Credit
  • PAI 706 International Relations Capstone Seminar
  • PAI 700 Selected Topics - Critical Approaches to IR

Michael John Williams is associate professor of public administration and international affairs and director of international relations graduate programs at the Maxwell School for Citizenship and Public Affairs, senior nonresident fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States, an associate of LSE IDEAS, editor-in chief of International Politics, and director of the Carnegie-Maxwell Policy Planning Lab in the Moynihan Institute for Global Affairs at Maxwell.

The Carnegie-Maxwell Policy Planning Lab (PPL) funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, is part of the Corporation’s Bridging the Gap program. The PPL brings together leading scholars of international relations, with midcareer policy professionals, to develop future policy scenarios whilst also offering early career civil servants’ leadership and management training.

Williams’s research and writing focuses functionally on international security and regionally on Europe-Russia and NATO. He has published extensively in both academic and policy outlets on the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, as well as on issues of war and technology. The author of three books, his most recent was "Science, Law and Liberalism in the American Way of War: The Quest for Humanity in Conflict" (Cambridge University Press).

His work has been published in journals such as International Affairs, International Politics, International Peacekeeping, Global Governance and Cooperation & Conflict. He is also co-editor of the critically acclaimed Power in World Politics. As a doctoral candidate at LSE, he was editor-in-chief of Millennium: Journal of International Studies, volume 33.

His research has been supported by numerous foundations. Most recently he was a 2023 NATO Security Studies Fulbright Fellow at the Brussels School of Governance in Belgium. He previously held a Robert Bosch Fellowship in the German Ministry of Defense, a visiting fellowship at the University of Oxford’s Rothermere American Institute, and a DAAD Fellowship at the Bundeswehr Center for Social Science in Potsdam. During his time at the German Ministry of Defense he was special advisor to the Parliamentary State Secretary for Defense.

Prior to joining Syracuse University, Williams was director of the international relations program at New York University, associate professor at the University of London and director of the Transatlantic Security Program at the Royal United Institute for Defense and Security Studies in London. 

Williams earned an honors B.A. with distinction from the University of Delaware, an M.A. with distinction from the Humboldt Universitaet zu Berlin and a Ph.D. (2006) from London School of Economics and Political Science.

"The Carnegie Policy Planning Leadership Lab", Sponsored by Carnegie Corporation of New York.

"NATO Security Studies Fulbright Fellow", Sponsored by Fulbright Commission of the United States.

"Rethinking European Security for the 21st Century", Sponsored by Charles G. Koch Charitable Foundation.

• Books
  • Williams, M., Carvin, S., Science, Law and Liberalism in the American Way of War: The Quest for Humanity. Cambridge University Press, 2015.
  • Williams, M., The Good War: NATO and the Liberal Conscience in Afghanistan. Palgrave, 2011.
  • Williams, M., NATO, Risk and Security Management: From Kosovo to Kandahar. Routledge, 2009.
  • Williams, M., Berenskoetter, F., Power in World Politics. Routledge, 2007.
  • Williams, M., On Mars and Venus: Strategic Culture as a Variable in US and European Foreign Policy. LIT Verlag, 2005.
• Journal Articles
  • Williams, M., "The Enduring Culture of Restraint in Modern Germany: German Mentalités on the Use of Force as Portrayed in Contemporary Television Narratives." German Politics, 2019.
  • Williams, M., Oliver, T., "Special relationships in flux: Brexit and the future of the US-EU and US-UK relationships." International Affairs, 2016.
  • Williams, M., "State-Building and the Armed Forces in Modern Afghanistan: A Structural Analysis." International Politics, 2015.
  • Williams, M., "Enduring, but Irrelevant? Britain, NATO and the Future of the Atlantic Alliance." International Politics, 2013.
  • Williams, M., "The Three Lessons of Afghan-Nam: Strategic Take-Aways from US Operations in Vietnam and Afghanistan." PRISM: Journal of the National Defense University, 2012.
  • Williams, M., "(Un)Sustainable Peacebuilding: NATO’s Suitability for Post-Conflict Reconstruction in Multi- Actor Environments." Global Governance, 2011.
  • Williams, M., "Empire Lite Revisited: NATO, the Comprehensive Approach and Statebuilding in Afghanistan." International Peacekeeping, 2011.
• Book Chapters
  • Williams, M., "NATO and the Risk Society: Modes of Alliance Representation since 1991." In Thinking Theoretically About NATO. Hyde-Price, A., Webber, M. (eds.) Routledge/ECPR, 2016.
  • Williams, M., "NATO Relations with Non-Governmental Organizations in Reconstruction Operations, 1999-2009." In Contemporary Challenges for the North Atlantic Alliance. Mayer, S. (ed.) Palgrave, 2014.
  • Williams, M., "The Afghan War." In The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History. Lynch, T. (ed.) Oxford University Press, 2012.
  • Williams, M., "Theory Meets Practice: Facets of Power in the War on Terror." In Power in World Politics. Berenskoetter, F., Williams, M. (eds.) Routledge, 2007.
• Book Reviews
  • Williams, M., "A Certain Idea of Europe by Craig Parsons." In Millennium: Journal of International Studies. .
  • Williams, M., "Defending the West by James Gow." In Millennium: Journal of International Studies. .
  • Williams, M., "Political Unification Revisited by Amitai Etzioni." In The Global Review of Ethnopolitics. .
  • Williams, M., "Republic in Peril: American Empire and the Liberal Tradition (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018)." In International Affairs. , 2018.
  • Williams, M., "A State Built on Sand: How Opium Undermined Afghanistan by David Mansfield (Oxford University Press, 2016)." In International Journal of Middle East Studies. , 2017.
  • Williams, M., "Military Adaption in Afghanistan by Theo Farrell, Frans Orsinga and James A. Russell (eds)." In RUSI Journal. , 2013.
  • Williams, M., "Contractors & War by Christopher Kinsey and Malcolm Hugh Patterson (eds)." In Defense & Security Analysis. , 2013.
• Newsprint/Explainer
  • Williams, M., ""What are the rules of war and how do they apply in Ukraine?." Washington Post, 2022.
• Newsprint/Op-Eds
  • Williams, M., "Regime Change in Syria? That Would be a Mistake." In The Guardian. , 2017.
  • Williams, M., "China vs the US or China vs Law: How Europe can Make a Difference." In The Atlantic Community. , 2016.
  • Williams, M., "What We Can Learn from Historical Analogies." In The Straits Times. , 2014.
  • Williams, M., "Its time for the US and Europe to put Sanctions on Ukraine." In The Guardian. , 2014.
  • Williams, M., "Former Defense Secretary Gates' Memoir is Shocking, but not about Obama." In The Guardian. , 2014.
  • Williams, M., "Obama must Lead on NATO." In The Atlantic Community. , 2013.
  • Williams, M., "Sequester Delivers Some Sanity to America's Bloated Defense Budget." In The Guardian. , 2013.
• Policy Reports
  • Williams, M., Transatlantic Cooperation in the Design and Production of a Medium Altitude Long Endurance (MALE) Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). Advanced Conceptions Division, Airbus GMbH, 2013.
  • Williams, M., Defense Industrial Prospects in the Transatlantic Free-Trade Agreement. Advanced Concepts Division, Airbus GMbH, 2013.
  • Williams, M., International (Dis)Organization: NATO and 'Sustainable' Peace-Building in Afghanistan. Carnegie Corporation of New York, 2009.
  • Williams, M., The Future of German-Russian Engagement. Center for European Policy Analysis, 2009.
  • Williams, M., Civil-Military Capabilities in Afghanistan. Whitehall Report, Royal United Services Institute, 2008.
  • Williams, M., Energy Security in the Euro-Atlantic Area. NATO Allied Command Transformation, 2008.
  • Williams, M., Homeland Security and NATO. NATO Allied Command Transformation, 2008.
• Policy/Short Articles
  • Williams, M., "Germany's Social Democrats Look for a New Face, but Their Problems Are Deeper." In The Atlantic Council of the United States. , 2019.
  • Williams, M., "Russia's New Doctrine: How the Kremlin has Learned to Fight Tomorrow's War Today." In Central Europe Digest. Center for European Policy Analysis, 2014.
  • Williams, M., "The Afghan National Army: An Army for the Nation?." In RUSI Analysis Web Brief. , 2013.
  • Williams, M., "The US Congress and the President: Conflict or Cooperation?." In RUSI Analysis Web Brief. , 2012.
  • Williams, M., "NATO's Balancing Act." In Central Europe Digest. Center for European Policy Analysis, 2010.
  • Williams, M., "Mr. Obama Goes to Moscow." In Central Europe Digest. Center for European Policy Analysis, 2009.
  • Williams, M., "Why Barack Obama is Better for Central Europe." In Central Europe Digest. Center for European Policy Analysis, 2008.

University of Edinburgh, "Revolutions, Counter Revolutions and the (un)Making of European Order: The War in Ukraine" (November 7, 2023)

University of Cambridge, "Revolutions, Counter Revolution and the (un)Making of European Order: The War in Ukraine" (November 2, 2023)

International Studies Association, "War as Risk Management: Social Change and Technological Innovation in the United States" (March, 2020)

Canadian Forces College, "International Law and 21st Century Warfare" (October 8, 2019)

NYU Graduate School of Arts and Science Convocation, "Resilience as the Foundation of Success" (May 15, 2018)

Robert Bosch Fellowship, Robert Bosch Foundation, Germany (2012 - 2013)

Visiting Fellowship, International Security Studies, Yale University, USA (2012 - 2013)

Post-Doctoral Fellowship: Rothermere American Institute, Nuffield College, University of Oxford, UK (2010 - 2011)

Academic Scholarship, LSE Department of International Relations (2005 - 2006)

Pre-Doctoral Fellowship: Changing Character of War Program, Department of Politics and International Relations, University of Oxford, UK (2005 - 2006)