William Reynolds is an Advanced Education Pathway (AEP) Lecturer in Defence Studies in the Defence Studies Department, King's College London. Graduating with a Bachelors in War Studies, and Masters in National Security Studies from the same department, Will completed his PhD in War Studies in 2023 through the Interrogating Visions of a Post-Western World Leverhulme program hosted by the Centre for Grand Strategy.

Will'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. Will'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 elements of British grand strategy post-1945.

Will has also conducted research work in collaboration with the Cabinet Office's Strategy Unit, having taken part in the Cabinet Office-Centre for Grand Strategy Doctoral Student Placement Programme during his PhD from 2020 to 2022. This was continued in 2024 with a Research England Policy Support funded project - Understanding UK Strategic Defence Reviews since 1998: Planning, Implementing, and Learning from Outcomes - which involved close collaboration with partners in the Cabinet Office's Strategy Unit.

Research Interests

• 20^th Century British Foreign Policy
• Post-1945 British Grand Strategy
• Post-1945 Anglo-Japanese Relations
• Indo-Pacific Geopolitics
• The Cod Wars
• Grand Strategy

Recent Publications

Articles

• 'The Cost of Sovereignty? The Future of Britain’s Defense Industrial Base', War on the Rocks, (January, 2025)
• 'Japan, AUKUS and the Future of Western Defence', Notebooks - Engelsberg Ideas (April, 2024)
• 'In Japan we Trust? The Future of Anglo-Japanese Arms Collaboration', Newsletter - Centre for Grand Strategy, King's College London (June, 2022)
• 'The Review, Defence and the Indo-Pacific ‘Tilt’: Constraining and Engaging in the Region' in Joe Devanny and John Gearson, eds., The Integrated Review in Context: Defence and Security in Focus - School of Security Studies, King's College London (October, 2021)
• (Co-Authored with Eitan Oren) 'Japan' in David Roberts and Anand Menon, eds., Global Britain: Views from Abroad - UK in a Changing Europe (September, 2021)

Book Chapters

• 'The Role of the Domestic in Low-Intensity Maritime Conflict: A Cod Wars Perspective' in Greg Kennedy and William de Sousa Moreira, eds., Power and the Maritime Domain: A Global Dialogue (October, 2022)

Policy Briefs

• 'The UK's attempted Strategic Reset under Edward Heath: EEC Membership', Cabinet Office-Centre for Grand Strategy Historical Case Studies for the Integrated Review, Part I (December, 2020)