Sir Nigel Sheinwald

Sir Nigel Sheinwald is a Visiting Professor in the Department of War Studies. He is a retired senior member of the British Diplomatic Service. He serves as a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation and on the Advisory Board of the Centre for European Reform.

Areas of Expertise

• British foreign and security policy
• The United States and transatlantic relations
• European Union
• The Middle East
• Relations with Russia and the emerging powers
• Defence and international security policy

Biography

Nigel graduated with a First in Classics at Balliol College, Oxford. He retired from the Diplomatic Service in 2012 after over 4 years as British Ambassador to the United States. He had a previous posting in the political section of the Embassy in the 1980s. He served as the Prime Minister’s Foreign Policy and Defence Adviser and Head of the Defence and Overseas Secretariat of the Cabinet Office from  2003-7.

Nigel was British Permanent Representative and Ambassador to the European Union in Brussels from 2000 to 2003. This followed a series of EU-related jobs in London and Brussels. Nigel’s first posting was Moscow in 1978-9. He was Head of the FCO’s Anglo-Soviet Section in the early 1980s. He also served as FCO Press Secretary in the 1990s