William Reynolds is a Research Associate in the Centre for Grand Strategy, Department of War Studies, King’s College London. Graduating with a Bachelors in War Studies, and Masters in National Security Studies from the same department, William completed his PhD in 2023 through the Interrogating Visions of a Post-Western World Leverhulme program.

William’s research focuses on British and Japanese interactions at the grand strategic level, with his doctoral thesis – ‘The Japanese Phenomenon’: British Grand Strategy’s Influence on Policy Towards Japan from 1945 to 1993 – tracing the making of British grand strategy, its priorities, and its connections with British policies towards Japan during the Cold War. William’s current research is a continuation of his thesis, dividing time between certain aspects of the Anglo-Japanese relationship – geopolitical, defence, strategy making, etc – and work comparing the defence reviews of the British state post-1997.

Outside of King’s William has lectured on Defence and Strategic Studies at the University of Lancaster, spent two years as an Open-Source Intelligence Analyst for a counter-IED company, and has conducted academic work with the Cabinet Office’s Strategy Unit on the 2021 Integrated Review and various questions of statecraft.

Research Interests

• British Grand Strategy
• British Foreign Policy
• Anglo-Japanese Relations
• The Indo-Pacific

Publications

• Book Chapter: The Role of the Domestic in Low-Intensity Maritime Conflict: A Cod Wars Perspective (2022) - https://www.routledge.com/Power-and-the-Maritime-Domain-A-Global-Dialogue/Kennedy-Moreira/p/book/9781032288840#
• Policy Paper: In Japan we Trust? The Future of Anglo-Japanese Arms Collaboration (2022) - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/in-japan-we-trust-the-future-of-anglo-japanese-arms-collaboration?fbclid=IwAR0zZHuxV5nz3zfL8SkK77WX5GNV_mp7Bh-Eyimrsm1erUx-oGFqEQc0-0w
• Policy Paper: The Review, Defence and the Indo-Pacific ‘Tilt’: Constraining and Engaging in the Region (2021) - https://www.kcl.ac.uk/the-review-defence-and-the-indo-pacific-tilt-constraining-and-engaging-in-the-region
• Policy Paper: Japan (2021) - https://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Global-Britain-views-from-abroad.pdf