Dr Will James has written an article for Engelsberg Ideas
Recent debates over the British Army tend to fixate on equipment – from procurement headaches to its state of readiness after donating tanks to Ukraine – but the real matter to resolve is its role. The war in Eastern Europe may offer political leaders the space to answer the key question: what does the government expect of its soldiers?
Dr William D James has published an article with the Hague Centre for Strategic Studies.
The war in Ukraine has raised fresh doubts over the will and ability of European states to play a meaningful role in the Indo-Pacific. In the United Kingdom, there is a lively debate over the utility of its ‘tilt’ to the region, first announced in the 2021 Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy. The defence component of this policy, which largely comes under the purview of the Royal Navy, has come under sustained flak from two sides. Some dismiss the tilt as tokenistic, a gesture strategy, and ask why the UK should invest scarce resources in a region so far from home? While others worry that it will distort the UK’s armed forces at a time when core interests in Europe are under threat, in some quarters this tilt is seen as a case of post-Brexit hubris.
This paper by William D. James explores the rationale and efficacy of small or token defence deployments – with a specific focus on the defence component of the Indo-Pacific tilt. Its arguments challenge the assumption that tokenistic deployments are always a strategically unsound idea. This paper argues that the naval effort in the Indo-Pacific – as currently constituted – will not cause undue strain on the UK’s broader defence efforts in the Euro-Atlantic. Furthermore, and contrary to conventional wisdom, it argues that tokenistic naval deployments can be worthwhile – so long as the objectives are clear, expectations are managed, and they are integrated with allied and partner navies. Finally, the paper offers three recommendations for the Ministry of Defence to better tailor its contribution to the tilt, namely: (1) Enhancing coordination with Europe’s naval powers, principally France; (2) narrowing the geographical and operational scope of naval activity in the Indo-Pacific; and (3) taking a more holistic approach to communications.
Author: Dr. William D. James is an Ax:son Johnson 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.
Dr William James has written a review of Alice Pannier's Rivals in arms: the rise of UK–France defence relations in the twenty-first century. His review is published in International Affairs (Vol. 98, No. 2, March 2022).
Extract
Publishing a book after 2016 that describes the Franco-British relationship as ‘special’ would likely be described by Yes Minister's Humphrey Appleby as ‘very courageous’. The United Kingdom's decision to leave the European Union has already posed significant challenges for defence integration and industrial cooperation. For its part, France often took the hardest line during the negotiations, whether over satellites or fishing. Surely, then, cross-Channel tensions over Brexit have seeped into the bilateral relationship and jeopardized the nascent progress on defence cooperation? Not so, argues Alice Pannier in this important new study on the Franco-British alliance.
William James’s article 'Between a pandemic and a hard Brexit: grand strategic thinking in an age of nationalism, renewed geopolitical competition and human insecurity', has been published in the RUSI Journal.
This essay was awarded first prize in RUSI's annual Trench Gascoigne prize.
Ministers have pledged that the UK’s Integrated Review will be driven by external threats, rather than financial pressures. This would be refreshing, but a renewed focus on ‘the other’ should not come at the expense of self-evaluation. Strategy, grand or otherwise, is about making choices. Prioritising threats is difficult without an understanding of one’s internal capabilities and vulnerabilities. In this essay, which was awarded the 2020 Trench Gascoigne Prize, William D James considers the UK’s strengths and weaknesses, as well as its external environment, in the early 2020s. The analysis suggests that some external threats would be less concerning if domestic frailties were first addressed.
William James’ article, "There and Back Again: The Fall and Rise of Britain's 'East of Suez' Basing Strategy", was published yesterday by War on the Rocks.
The essay examines the causes of the UK’s withdrawal from its major bases in the Arabian Peninsula & Southeast Asia midway through the Cold War. It also draws out the lessons for current policymakers in London who are charting a "return" East of Suez.
Many of the ideas & findings in the essay are explored at greater length in Will’s recent article for the European Journal of International Security: "Global Britain's strategic problem East of Suez".
William James has published an article in the European Journal of International Security. The essay entitled ‘'Global Britain's strategic problem East of Suez” formed the basis of the CCW seminar which Will presented last term.
Why did Britain withdraw from its military bases in the Arabian Peninsula and Southeast Asia midway through the Cold War? Existing accounts tend to focus on Britain's weak economic position, as well as the domestic political incentives of retrenchment for the ruling Labour Party. This article offers an alternative explanation: the strategic rationale for retaining a permanent presence East of Suez dissolved during the 1960s, as policymakers realised that these military bases were consuming more security than they could generate. These findings have resonance for British officials charting a return East of Suez today under the banner of ‘Global Britain’.
Congratulations to Dr William James, who has won first prize in the Royal United Services Institute's Trench Gascoigne essay competition.
The award was presented by the Chief of Defence Staff, General Sir Nick Carter, as well as the new RUSI Chair Sir David Lidington.
Will’s essay was titled: 'Between a pandemic and a hard Brexit: grand strategic thinking in age of nationalism, great power competition and human insecurity'. The essay will be published in The RUSI Journal.
Will won second prize in the same competition in 2018 and Rob Johnson also won first prize in 2016.
Dr William James has published a short article on the likely changes and continuities in the transatlantic relationship under President Biden.
Joe Biden’s electoral victory was initially met with relief in most European capitals but has since triggered some deeper soul-searching. French President Emmanuel Macron sparked a rather extraordinary row last week by rebuking German Defence Minister, Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, for her critique of European strategic autonomy and defence of the US role in the continent’s security. Their public spat masks an uncomfortable truth: Europeans are unsure about the future orientation of US grand strategy. Was Donald Trump’s eventful tenure an aberration or a symptom of deeper structural issues not just in American domestic politics but also in the US-Europe relationship? The time is ripe to assess the likely changes and continuities in the transatlantic partnership under President Biden.
