Law, Science, Liberalism and the American Way of War, Cambridge University Press 2015
“American military power has been a central geopolitical fact since the middle of the twentieth century and has defined the first decades of the twenty-first century. Situating American combat power in a long-term historical process, Stephanie Carvin and Michael Williams demonstrate how the United States' approach to war-fighting is not so much the product of its obsession with technology, as many have suggested, but its attempt to maintain its security while simultaneously sustaining its core liberal values. Carvin and Williams dissect the many difficulties which this American way of war, as a manifestation of fundamental forces in US culture, has engendered in Iraq and Afghanistan.”
- Professor Anthony King, University of Warwick
Praise for Science Law and Liberalism in the American Way of War:
"How Scientists and Lawyers Shape the American Way of Warfare" on Lawfare by Kenneth Anderson, Washington College of Law, American University
International Affairs, by William Boothby, Geneva Centre for Security Policy
The RUSI Journal, by Jack MacDonald, King's College London
Power in World Politics, Routledge 2007/2010
“Drawing from a variety of International Relations’ traditions and other fields and disciplines, this book contains some of the most cutting-edge and illuminating scholarship on power yet. It is no exaggeration to say, therefore, that after reading this book you will never think about power in simplistic and one-dimensional ways.”
— Emanuel Adler, University of Toronto, Canada
The Good War: NATO and the Liberal Conscience in Afghanistan, Palgrave 2011
“At a time when innumerable newspaper articles, journal essays and political speeches have added more heat than light to the NATO intervention in Afghanistan, Williams gives answers with real expertise, the right historical perspective and a sound political judgement. Based on extensive research and interviews with key players on both sides of the Atlantic, this book is essential reading for anyone, layman or strategist, who wants to understand what is really at stake for the Western democracies in Afghanistan.”
— - Dr. Jamie Shea, Former Assistant Secretary General, NATO
Review of the Good War in E-IR, Martin Bayly, King’s College London
Reader Review of Good Reads “This is a hard nosed book written for study by citizens and hard nosed people who are going to have to make decisions for NATO and its members. Decisions regarding participation in future armed interventions, not for direct defense but for “nation building” as a way to deal with failed states and create security out of chaos.”
NATO, Risk and Security Management: from Kosovo to Kandahar, Routledge 2009
"Engaging and illuminating, Williams offers an original and stimulating take on NATO's evolution and the liberal conscience while at the same time delivering a serious reality check to advocates of democratic imperialism."
- Professor Christopher Coker, London School of Economics,
Other Writing
In addition to my books, I’ve published scholarly analysis in a number of outlets including German Politics, International Affairs, International Politics, Global Governance, Cooperation and Conflict, the RUSI Journal, and Parameters, as well as in a number of edited volumes including: The Oxford Handbook on NATO, Thinking Theoretically About NATO, Contemporary Challenges for the North Atlantic Alliance, and The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Military and Diplomatic History.
I’ve also produced expert analysis for the UK House of Commons, and I’ve written analysis for Foreign Policy, The Guardian the Straits Times, the International Spectator, the International Herald Tribune, the Scotsman, the Financial Times, the Independent, The Atlantic Council of the United States, the Royal United Services Institute, the Center for Strategic and International Studies, the Center for European Policy Analysis and the Brussels-based Center for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy.