Had a lot of fun being able to talk on all things Britain, Cold War and the Indo-Pacific this week, kindly hosted by the Institute of Historical Research and @dsdkings.bsky.social. Thank you to all those attended, there were some great questions and feedback I'll take forward.

Fujifilm opens a new £400m expansion in Billingham. The expansion adds new bioreactors giving the facility a 19,000 litre capacity. www.gazettelive.co.uk/news/teessid...

Delighted to be speaking on the British perspective of the Indo-Pacific through a Cold War historical lens, hosted by the Institute of Historical Research. ⏰24 Feb 2026 - 1730-1900hrs (GMT) 📍Online/UK Defence Academy, @dsdkings.bsky.social www.history.ac.uk/news-events/...

There's been some push back on the Prime Minister's choice of words regarding "choosing" between the US and China. Whilst the UK will almost always side with the US on something existential - based off shared values and interests - this is a nuanced approach. 1/

Meanwhile, the Icelandic Coastguard:

Time to do some archive-based teaching!

A new Miyako-class has entered the water. The JCG 'Hiroshima'. A 3,500-ton of the PL type (Patrol Vessel Large), it is equipped with a flight deck, water cannons and 2x Bofor 40mm systems. Its origins are in the 2016 Budget, with the first entering the water in 2018. www.mhi.com/jp/news/2509...

As @teamlabouruk.bsky.social marks its one year anniversary in office, Prof @jamiegaskarth.bsky.social & Prof @jasonralph.bsky.social ask the question "can foreign policy be pragmatic and progressive?" www.newdiplomacy.uk/articles/kar...

I suspect folks aren't going to like the suggestive nature of the document (it is an external 'suggesting' document after all). Lots of room for interpretation and re-interpretation from all involved from policy through to implementation. assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/683d89...

Having been around with The Centre for Grand Strategy for almost eight years now (in one form or another), am excited to see it take this next step as part of a wider community!

📢 Exciting news! The Centre for Grand Strategy and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation are merging to form a new hub within @warstudieskcl.bsky.social: the Centre for Statecraft & National Security @csns-uk.bsky.social ➡️ You can find more information here: csns.uk

For more on how fish can make the public rather barmy at times, see: William Reynolds,‘Refusing to Budge’ | 11 | The Role of the Domestic in Low-Intensity Maritime Conflict - A Cod Wars Perspective. www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

Happy Easter folks!

A thoroughly enjoyable Staff Ride (my first on the teaching side) with the U.K. Defence Academy. Great colleagues and great course members. Hope to see some of the latter on the Advanced Staff Course.

Am happy to say my first academic peer-reviewed journal has just been published with Diplomacy & Statecraft: 'Facing the ‘Rogue Elephant’: The Evolution of British Strategy Towards Japan in the 1970s and 1980s www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

With the possibility of an uplift in Defence doing the rounds, I cannot recommend enough Andrew Curtis' book 'We Need to Talk About Defence' on managing the Defence Enterprise. www.bloomsbury.com/uk/we-need-t...

Northern Ireland seems to be making rather effective inroads into India. First Queen's University Belfast opens up a new campus in India and now Thales UK's LMM (manufactured in N Ireland) is being procured. www.gov.uk/government/n...

Always some good news about to lighten the gloom www.gov.uk/government/n...

Nominative determinism of the day

Looking forward to chatting about Britain, Japan and the Cold War next week!

Looking forward to chatting about Britain, Japan and the Cold War next week!

🚨Research Seminar The EASG is delighted to host Dr. William Reynolds @warstudent.bsky.social from @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social 🗺️ 'From Oslo to Tokyo: Britain's Cold War Strategy and Japan' 📅 February 4th, 2025 - 2.15-3.30PM (hybrid) More info at tinyurl.com/48puxnzc or [email protected]

A 'Partner' nation - as opposed to a full treaty member - would be more workable for GCAP. Perhaps more cooperation in the systems around the main airframe? That being said, the trilateral members will need to make sure this does not negatively effect timetables.

Interesting little commemoration for the 75th year since VJ Day from @gwr.com Commemorates Tulbahadur Pun, 3rd Battalion, 6 Gurkha Rifles, who reached a bridge at Mogaung in Burma (now Myanmar), on his own, after his section was wiped out on the charge. Awarded the VC.

Inauguration of the independent Mission of Japan to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (15 Jan 2025) www.mofa.go.jp/press/releas...

“The core platform, that will sit at its heart, is being delivered through the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP)." If we are to see cuts related to GCAP it'll probably be the associated systems around the core programme that may get the axe from the UK side. ukdefencejournal.org.uk/update-on-pr...

Some thoughts from me in @warontherocks.bsky.social on the defence industrial base and what can be done to safeguard the remaining assets without damaging combat effectiveness. @warstudieskcl.bsky.social warontherocks.com/2025/01/the-...

Merry Christmas folks!

Christmas comes early for some

Was very pleased to be invited onto @history-hit.bsky.social to discuss something a bit fishy. Thank you both to @thehistoryguy.bsky.social for the fun conversation and to @kclcgs.bsky.social for giving me the space to delve into such a fascinating topic. open.spotify.com/episode/4jjb...

That slipped past me! Gives the line at Warton a minor reprieve. Qatar looks to buy another 12 Typhoon jets from UK on.ft.com/3ZuGVtM

KF-21 is going to have operational Meteors before F-35 does isn’t it? Sigh… www.mbda-systems.com/2024/12/06/m...

“America will not be made great again by those who are content to manage our decline…” - Mitch McConnell Managing decline you say? Britain: www.politico.com/news/2024/12...

Now if only people could agree on what the ‘British Way of Warfare’ *is*

I reckon I can still read another chapter of my bath book when the water reaches ‘tepid’

T2 and its engine issues has been identified as one of the (many) contributors to the training pipeline. Depending on the speed of replacement, this will likely mean a foreign design. If we were going down the GCAP route, Leonardo trainers would work. www.forcesnews.com/services/raf...

Hmm with the storm over the weekend, will GWR be able to muscle through and not be severely affected? Our survey says:

I appreciate the optimism from our conductor on GWR today after getting on a 9 coach train which ended up having 5. ‘Please bear in mind that some train is better than no train’

Teaching prioritisation of resources next week. Would've been really nice if MoD had waited until Friday!

What is interesting is this is announced *before* the SDR in Spring. Which makes me think that the draft force structure has been somewhat firmed up now.

Perhaps a controversial opinion, but the items listed don't seem to bad cut wise. - Puma is knackered - The LPDs haven't been to sea in quite some time - The Waves are un-crewable currently - Watchkeeper is well...Watchkeeper. news.sky.com/story/uk-to-...

"Tokyo Metro has promised to bring Japanese reliability and punctuality to London, after securing a contract to jointly operate the Elizabeth Line." Not sure even the Japanese can manage that, but it'll be interesting to see what changes. www.ft.com/content/8334...

Nope…not connecting to that

As SDR manoeuvring continues, the perennial issue of the carriers rises to the fore again 1/ ‘War games expose aircraft carriers as the Royal Navy’s weak link’ www.thetimes.com/article/3357...

Thanks to Dr Hillary Briffa (KCL) for pointing me to this. May or may not feature heavily in the ol' HEA application now....

A nice surprise to see so many new followers. By way of intro, I'm based at NTU Singapore, where I teach on alliances and defence policy. My first book examines how the UK, as a 2nd tier power, makes grand strategy while underneath the US security umbrella. See here for more info: williamdjames.com

Musk did say he viewed Twitter as a town square (forum). At this rate it will very much look like an English one - empty.

Whilst I appreciate the sudden surge of followers from Twitter, my poor notifications do feel like a whirlwind!

“Government leaders can substantially disturb, but not substantially control, the behaviour of large organizations.” - Graham Allison (1968)

Is it even a Will thesis without a 'Yes Minister' quote?