Combat lessons: What Europeans should learn from Ukraine
Buying new kit is easy. The real challenge for European militaries is to rethink how they organise themselves—and how they plan to fight
Experts & Staff
Nick Witney
Senior Policy Fellow
Areas of expertise
International relations; international security policy; European security and defence policy; military capabilities development; defence equipment cooperation; research and industry; Middle East and North Africa; the Middle East Peace Process
Languages
English, French, Arabic
Biography
Nick Witney is a senior policy fellow at the European Council on Foreign Relations. His topics of focus range from the European Security and Defence Policy to the Middle East Peace Process.
Witney previously served as the first chief executive of the European Defence Agency in Brussels. High Representative Javier Solana chose him in January 2004 to lead the project team charged with developing the concept and blueprint for the agency. The European Council approved the team’s proposals in July 2004, an achievement recognised by European Voice in nominating Witney as one of its 50 “Europeans of the Year”. After that, he was appointed to establish and run the agency for its first three years.
Witney’s early career, after reading Classics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford, was spent in British government service, first with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and later with the Ministry of Defence (MOD). As a diplomat, he learned Arabic in Lebanon and Jordan, served in Baghdad, and spent four years as private secretary to the British ambassador in Washington, D.C.
Working with the MOD, Witney took on a wide range of responsibilities, including planning and finance, defence exports (the al-Yamamah programme with Saudi Arabia), nuclear policy, the defence estate (running the privatisation of the MOD’s married quarters housing stock), the new Labour government’s 1998 Strategic Defence Review, the forward Equipment Programme, and defence industrial policy. His last job before leaving for Brussels was as the MOD’s director-general of International Security Policy, where he was responsible for NATO and EU policy as well as missile defence.
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Publications
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Articles
Combat lessons: What Europeans should learn from Ukraine
Buying new kit is easy. The real challenge for European militaries is to rethink how they organise themselves—and how they plan to fight
Under my parapluie: Macron’s nuclear guarantee for Europe
With Macron in charge, France has the capabilities and the commitment to extend its nuclear umbrella to European allies. But the prospect of a very different president in the Elysée next year means British backup could become invaluable
Escaping the special relationship: How Britain can leave its dangerous dependency on Trump’s America
The British prime minister has long said the UK does not need to choose between the US and Europe. The time has come for him to admit he is wrong
The death of the West
America’s new National Security Strategy has shaken Europe’s leaders awake to the end of the transatlantic alliance as they know it. But Europeans have the means to stand up for themselves—if they choose to seize them
Europe’s new Defence Readiness Roadmap: The European Commission bids for the driving seat
After years of slow progress by member states, only the European Commission appears to have a plan to invest in Europe’s defence
A tale of two leaders: The difference between Starmer and von der Leyen
The return-to-work pitches of European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and British prime minister Keir Starmer sketch two very different pictures: one was full of ambition and strength, the other was sorely lacking
Too much, too fast: Europe’s defence-spending tsunami is coming
This week’s NATO summit sees defence spending at the top of the agenda. But, at the current estimation, Europe risks rearming at an unsustainable pace. This could waste resources and trigger political instability without delivering real security for European citizens
From reliance to dependence: The risks of “NATO first”
Britain’s strategic defence review overlooks the dangers of banking on America for its security
Forget the sand eels: The UK and Europe need to collaborate on defence
Donald Trump presents a threat to European security. Now the UK and the EU need to pool their resources: and agreeing an EU-UK security and defence pact on 19th May will be the acid test
Europeans, face facts: Trump is all too predictable
Donald Trump’s second presidency has got off to a shocking start. Europeans leaders need to drop the “unpredictability” façade and double down on support for Ukraine
Specials
Eyes tight shut: European attitudes towards nuclear deterrence
Europeans remain unwilling to renew their thinking on nuclear deterrence, despite growing strategic instability. Their stated goal of “strategic autonomy” will remain an empty phrase until they engage seriously on this matter
Podcasts
The great reset? How the EU and the UK can rethink their security and defence cooperation
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Building Europeans’ Capacity to Defend Themselves
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Mark Leonard talks to the all star cast of Nick Whitney, Ulrike Franke and Jeremy Shapiro on the topic of European strategic culture
European Security after Brexit
ECFR Policy Fellow Ulrike Franke speaks with Mark Leonard, former MP Douglas Alexander, and ECFR’s Senior Policy Fellow Nick Witney, about Britain’s future vision of…
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Défense européenne : Londres, un allié “indispensable mais indisponible”
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In the media
Nick Whitney on the importance of trust in nuclear deterrence
Nick Witney on European perspective on the possibility of the US withdrawal from NATO
Nick Whitney on Europe’s military capacity to repel or deter Russia without American support
Nick Witney on the lack of coordination in European defence spending
Nick Witney on increased NATO spending