Members

Founder and Retired member

Dr Robert W. Dyson

Prof John Williams, B.A., M.A. (Hull), Ph.D. (Warwick)

Member of the Centre for the History of Political Thought

Professor in the School of Government and International Affairs

Contact Prof John Williams (email at j.c.williams@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

Professor of International Relations. John Williams studied at the Universities of Hull and Warwick. He was a Lecturer at the University of Aberdeen for five years before joining Durham in 2001. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the British International Studies Association and is presently a member of the Economic and Social Research Council's peer review college. In the summer of 2010 he was a Visting Scholar at the University of Queensland.

Current Research

John Williams' principal research interests lie in international ethics, particularly the ethics of violence in international relations, and the English school of international relations theory. He has published widely on both and is presently working on a jointly edited book (with Cian O'Driscoll of Glasgow University and Anthony F. Lang of St Andrews University) on contemporary just war theory that is due for completion in late 2011. This arises from a workshop funded by the United States Institute of Peace in 2010. He is also working on a wide-ranging study of the pluralist strand of English school theory, aiming to re-establish the significance of ethical diversity as central to the pluralist position. Initial results of this work were presented at the ISA Convention in Montreal in March 2011 and will ultimately result in a book.

Research Groups

School of Government and International Affairs

International Relations/International Political Economy
Political Theory and Culture
Working Papers

Research Interests

Ethics in International Relations
Ethics of territorial borders
Ethics of violence
International Relations theory

Publications

Books: authored

Williams, John. (2006). The Ethics of Territorial Borders: Drawing Lines in the Shifting Sand. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
John Williams (1998). Legitimacy in International Relations and the Rise and Fall of Yugoslavia. Macmillan.

Books: edited

Richard Little & John Williams (2006). The Anarchical Society in a Globalized World. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Anthony F. Lang, Jr. & John Williams (2005). Hannah Arendt and International Relations: Readings Across the Lines. New York: Palgrave.
Nigel Dower & John Williams (2002). Global Citizenship: a Critical Reader. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Departmental working papers

Williams, John (2007). 'The Borders of A Just War'. (07/03).

Edited works: contributions

Williams, John C, (2013). 'Not in My name: Legitimate authority and Liberal Just War Theory. In The Just War Tradition: the practice of authority and authority in practice. Lang, Anthony F., O'Driscoll, Cian & Williams, John C. Georgetown University Press.
Williams, John (2010). The International Society - World Society Distinction. In The International Studies Encyclopedia. Denemark, Robert A. Oxford: Wiley. VII: 4562-4578.
Williams, John (2006). 'Order and Society'. In The Anarchical Society in a Globalized World. Little, Richard & Williams, John Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 13-34.
John Williams (2005). 'Hannah Arendt and an International Space In-Between'. In Hannah Arendt and International Relations. Anthony F.Lang Jr. & John Williams New York: Palgrave. 199-220.
John Williams with Anthony F. Lang, Jr. (2005). 'Introduction: Hannah Arendt and International Affairs'. In Hannah Arendt and International Relations. Anthony F.Lang Jr. & John Williams New York: Palgrave. 1-26.
John Williams (2002). 'Good International Citizenship'. In Global Citizenship: a Critical Reader. Nigel Dower & John Williams Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. pp. 41-52.

Journal papers: academic

Williams, John (2011). Structure, norms and normative theory in a re-defined English school: accepting Buzan's challenge. Review of International Studies 37(3): 1235-1253
Williams, John (2010). Hedley Bull and Just War: Missed opportunities and lessons to be learned. European Journal of International Relations 16(2): 179-196.
McLean, Craig, Patterson, Alan & Williams, John (2009). Risk Assessment, Policy-Making and the Limits of Knowledge: the precautionary principle and international relations.'. International Relations 23(4): 548-566
Williams, John (2008). Space, Scale and Just War: meeting the challenge of humanitarian intervention and transnational terrorism. Review of International Studies 34(4): 581-600.
Williams,John & Roach, Tim (2006). 'Security, Territorial Borders and British Iraq Policy: Buying a Blair Way to Heaven?'. Geopolitics 11(1): 1-23.
Hayman, P.A. & Williams, John (2006). Westphalian Sovereignty: Rights, Intervention, Meaning and Context. Global Society 20(4): 521-542.
Williams, John (2005). 'Pluralism, Solidarism and the Emergence of World Society in English School Theory'. International Relations 19(1): 19-38.
Williams, John (2003). 'Territorial Borders, International Ethics and Geography: Do Good Fences Still Make Good Neighbours?'. Geopolitics 8(2): 25-46.
Williams, John (2002). Territorial borders, toleration and the English school. Review of International Studies 28(4): 737-758.
John Williams (1999). The Ethical Basis of Humanitarian Intervention, The Security Council and Yugoslavia. International Peacekeeping 6(2): 1-23.
John Williams (1999). The Ethics of Borders and the Borders of Ethics: International Society and Rights and Duties of Special Beneficence. Global Society 13(4): 467-487.

Media Contacts

Available for media contact about:

European & other international expertise: Research interests in ethics and international relations, especially in relation to the use of violence and war; the ethics of territory; international relations theory.
International: Defence & disputes: Research interests in ethics and international relations, especially in relation to the use of violence and war; the ethics of territory; international relations theory.
International: Politics, institutions & law: Research interests in ethics and international relations, especially in relation to the use of violence and war; the ethics of territory; international relations theory.
Politics & Society: Research interests in ethics and international relations, especially in relation to the use of violence and war; the ethics of territory; international relations theory.
International politics: Research interests in ethics and international relations, especially in relation to the use of violence and war; the ethics of territory; international relations theory.
Terrorism: Research interests in ethics and international relations, especially in relation to the use of violence and war; the ethics of territory; international relations theory.