David Williams

Professor David Williams holds a position at Queen Mary University of London within the School of Politics and International Relations. He completed his MSc and PhD at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), followed by roles as Hedley Bull and Talbot Junior Research Fellow at Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, and Departmental Lecturer in International Relations at Oxford University. Previously, he was Head of Department for International Politics at City University before joining Queen Mary in 2012. His research focuses on the intersection of international relations, development, and political theory, particularly examining Western development agencies' interactions with developing states through a liberal political theory lens. Current projects include studies on anti-colonial liberalism and the temporal dimensions of liberal thought.

Education: BSc (ECON), MSc (SOAS), PhD (SOAS). His teaching includes POL251 International Relations Theory. Supervision focuses on development policy, foreign aid, international liberalism, and global governance. He has secured grants including a Canadian-funded project on institutional cooperation and peace consolidation in Sub-Saharan Africa (2004). His extensive publications include books such as The World Bank and Domestic Transformation and International Development and Global Politics, alongside journal articles analyzing colonialism, governance, and development interventions. His work bridges historical and contemporary debates in global politics.