Skip to main content
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
Sections
  • All News
  • Arts & Culture
  • Business & Economy
  • Campus & Community
  • Health & Society
  • Media, Law & Policy
  • STEM
  • Veterans
  • University Statements
  • Syracuse University Impact
  • |
  • The Peel
  • Athletics
  • Home
  • About
  • Faculty Experts
  • For The Media
  • ’Cuse Conversations Podcast
  • Topics
    • Alumni
    • Events
    • Faculty
    • Students
    • All Topics
  • Contact
  • Submit
Media, Law & Policy

Maxwell’s Michael Williams Honored With NATO-Fulbright Security Studies Award

Thursday, July 27, 2023, By News Staff
Share
Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs

Michael Williams, associate professor of public administration and international affairs and director of the master of arts in international relations program in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, has received a Fulbright-North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) Security Studies Award.

The award, offered in partnership with NATO and the Fulbright Commission, will support Williams on a four-month research trip to Brussels, Belgium, beginning this September. Hosted at the Centre for Security, Diplomacy and Strategy at the Brussels School of Governance, he will advance his research on NATO-Russia. Brussels is home to NATO headquarters.

Michael Williams

Michael Williams

Williams’ research project is titled “Origins of War: NATO-Russia Relations, 1989-2022.” He says it involves three strands of work. “The first will be collecting an oral history from individuals at NATO to document how the alliance has worked to coordinate assistance to Ukraine and respond to the crisis,” he says. “The second strand of research will look at the role of ideology in the war, and how the spread of liberal democracy in Europe is perceived in authoritarian states, such as Russia and further abroad in China. And, finally, I will be doing archival research on nuclear weapons in NATO.”

Williams hopes that his work will result in a written history of the decline in productive NATO-Russian relations to show that Russia’s war is not the result of NATO expansion, but rather, due to the homegrown advance of liberal democratic politics in central and eastern Europe. Previous realist approaches deny the agency of people in central and eastern Europe, specifically around the revolutionary grassroots politics in Ukraine, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan in the 2000s, he says, adding that Russian policy is driven by the threat of similar democratic revolutions at home rather than NATO expansion.

Williams is frequently cited by the media for his subject-area expertise, and he has published numerous journal articles and op-ed pieces. He directs the International Affairs Series offered by the Daniel Patrick Moynihan Institute of Global Affairs, which is housed at the Maxwell School. Additionally, he is a fellow of the Inter-University Seminar on Armed Forces and Society and the Royal Society for the Arts as well as a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council in Washington, D.C. Recently, he was elected to the Governing Council of the International Studies Association and the Executive Committee of the Governing Council for 2023-24.

He received a Ph.D. at the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2006.

This story was written by Jewell Bohlinger.

  • Author

News Staff

  • Recent
  • Syracuse Views Fall 2025
    Monday, August 25, 2025, By News Staff
  • University’s Human Dynamics Programs Realign to Strengthen Collaboration and Community Impact
    Monday, August 25, 2025, By News Staff
  • Falk College of Sport Driving Innovation and Excellence in Sport-Related Industries (Podcast)
    Monday, August 25, 2025, By John Boccacino
  • 2025 Welcome Week in Photos
    Monday, August 25, 2025, By News Staff
  • School of Architecture Announces Fall 2025 Visiting Critics
    Monday, August 25, 2025, By Julie Sharkey

More In Media, Law & Policy

NASCAR Internship Puts Jenna Mazza L’26 on the Right Track to Career in Sports Law

A lifelong NASCAR fan, Jenna Mazza L’26 has a photo of herself at age 4 standing with legendary driver Jimmie Johnson’s diecast car. So, imagine her elation when she had the opportunity to take a photograph with Johnson himself this…

New $1M Gift to Build Bridges and Create Global Map to Enhance Democracies

With a new $1 million gift from The Reynolds Foundation, researchers at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs hope to create a new global map, one that provides a clear pathway to strengthening democracy and freedom throughout the…

Professor Anthony Adornato Trains Journalists in Kosovo Through Fulbright

For Associate Professor Anthony Adornato, a recent Fulbright experience brought him back to his journalism roots. The former television anchor and reporter returned from a three-week Fulbright Specialist experience in Kosovo, where he trained journalists at the country’s public service…

Syracuse University and University of Bergen Host Transatlantic Alliance for Law, Outreach and National Security Conference

The Syracuse University Institute for Security Policy and Law (SPL) and the University of Bergen Faculty of Law recently hosted a group of national security scholars from 16 universities and 12 states at the first Transatlantic Alliance for Law, Outreach…

After Tragedy, Newhouse Grad Rediscovers Her Voice Through Podcasting

When Erika Mahoney ’12 graduated from the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, she had no idea that her journalism training would one day help her navigate the most devastating chapter of her own life. Today, the former National Public…

Subscribe to SU Today

If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.

Connect With Us

  • X
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
Social Media Directory

For the Media

Find an Expert Follow @SyracuseUNews
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Youtube
  • LinkedIn
  • @SyracuseU
  • @SyracuseUNews
  • Social Media Directory
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • Campus Status
  • Syracuse.edu
© 2025 Syracuse University News. All Rights Reserved.