Nicholas Williams, OBE is a Senior Associate Fellow for the European Leadership Network (ELN). He was a long-serving member of NATO’s International Staff, most recently as Head of Operations for Afghanistan and Iraq. Prior to this, Nick served in senior positions in NATO, EU, and British missions in Afghanistan, Bosnia Herzegovina, and Iraq. He began his career in the British Ministry of Defence working on defence policy and planning issues, with multiple secondments to NATO functions during the Cold War and to the French Ministry of Defence in its aftermath.
Nicholas Williams
Senior Associate Fellow
Content by Nicholas Williams
Commentary
NATO enlargement: Avoiding the next missteps
Among the hopes and expectations that the election of President Biden has triggered, further enlargement of NATO is, for security in Europe, one of the most significant and problematic. In advance of the NATO Summit in June, Nick Williams argues that NATO’s door must remain open but further enlargements should wait until stricter conditions are defined and fulfilled.
Report
NATO’s DNA: The Alliance’s contribution to arms control, disarmament, and non-proliferation
Simon Lunn and Nicholas Williams assess the contribution made by NATO in the field of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation. They find that arms control does not occupy a sufficiently visible or influential place in NATO’s approach to security and offer 13 policy recommendations to redress this.
Policy brief
Modernising conventional arms control: An urgent imperative
As the Russia-NATO confrontation is intensifying, hopes of maintaining a degree of control and restraint in the continuing development of armed forces are rapidly fading. This policy brief proposes twelve innovative measures to reverse the negative trend of increased military confrontation.