Britain sets sail – into the dark
The odds that the UK and the EU will reach full, or even much, agreement within the breakneck timetable imposed by London do not look good
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.
Brexit eve: The slow burn begins
Democratic backsliding and constitutional crises could await if the wheels come off Boris Johnson’s Brexit bandwagon.
Control issues: The UK’s defence procurement woes
The UK Ministry of Defence has shown a chronic lack of decision discipline, sometimes undermining its role in joint European projects
Boris’s revenge: The coming assault on Britain’s democracy
Boris Johnson could prove to be more Trump than Trump. But he may yet face resistance to turning Britain into “Singapore-on-Thames”
Another NATO summit train wreck? Here’s hoping
NATO leaders should put the US security guarantee at the heart of this week’s summit. The fractious meeting that results could even be a good thing for Europe.
A hard Brexit looms
Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems to have the momentum to get his Brexit deal over the line – and to follow up with a general election triumph while the electorate are still sighing with relief
There’s only one way to “just get it done”
The UK’s European partners should grant it another extension in the Brexit negotiations. The horror show of the last three years has deflated much of the public’s belief in British exceptionalism.
European defence and the new Commission
A new directorate-general for defence and space has a chance to make a difference, but only if it plays nice in the sandbox
Nothing to see here: Europe and the INF treaty
Europeans have responded to the death of the INF treaty with seeming indifference – and are expressing their reluctance to accept that nuclear issues are back on the agenda
Building Europeans’ Capacity to Defend Themselves
Mark Leonard launches ECFR’s special summer series on European sovereignty with a discussion of the continent’s security and defence policy. He is joined by Nick…
Publications
Beyond Global Britain: A realistic foreign policy for the UK
The UK government’s vision for Global Britain does not reflect today’s geostrategic realities. Yet the UK can forge an effective foreign policy if it focuses on British strengths, avoids military adventures in distant lands, and finds balanced, effective working relationships with the EU and the US.
Building Europeans’ capacity to defend themselves
To hedge against US disengagement without precipitating it, Europeans should converge on “taking a greater share of the burden of defending Europe”
Keeping Europe safe after Brexit
The context Now is not the moment for either the European Union or the United Kingdom to risk allowing the political tensions around Brexit to…
One hundred years of British solitude: Magical thinking about Brexit and security
A British exit from the EU would make it harder to fight crime and terrorism, reduce Britain’s ability to lead and influence its partners, and weaken NATO
European Foreign Policy Scorecard 2016
The sixth ECFR Foreign Policy Scorecard highlights the EU’s diminishing ability to influence its neighbours, and the neighbourhood’s growing impact on the EU
After Paris: What price European defence?
Following France’s call for European solidarity under Article 42.7, European states should rekindle defence cooperation and aid France’s deployments in Africa
Brexit to nowhere: The foreign policy consequences of “Out”
British exit from the EU would have serious foreign policy consequences – both for Britain and for the rest of Europe
The road back to European power
The EU needs an honest assessment of its capabilities and to set limited goals behind which member states can show sustainable unity
Europe’s Neighbourhood: Crisis as the new normal
Europe’s European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) needs drastic reform to deal with a region characterised by conflict, counter-revolution, and extremism
Why Europe must stop outsourcing its security
The EU’s habit of outsourcing its military interventions is problematic for a multitude of reasons
Articles
Home alone: The sorry state of Europe’s plans for self-defence
With the possibility of a second Trump presidency looming, it is high time to Europeanise NATO’s defence plans
The over-reach risk: The unanswered questions of EU enlargement
There are three steps EU leaders must urgently take to prepare themselves for the enlargement process – starting by suspending Hungary’s voting rights
Labour’s intent: Resetting Britain’s defence relationship with Europe
A new UK Labour government should move quickly to agree fresh ambitions with EU partners on defence industry collaboration and consolidation
Spirit of ambition: The Ukraine war and European defence integration
Europeans should look to the success of the automotive sector for inspiration on uniting their defence efforts across the whole continent
Sanity returns to British foreign policy
Rishi Sunak has reintroduced sensible pragmatism to British foreign policy – but the nature of today’s Tory party means he is not out of the woods yet
The end of Brexit fever
As Britain reels from its latest political fiasco, the conspiracy of silence on Brexit is finally over
The Truss premiership: Winter is coming
The new British prime minister is on a collision course with reality – and leaders across Europe may not even bank on her remaining in Downing Street for long
Tory de force: Johnson’s eviction and the future of Brexit
The Johnson era is ending as it began – in farce. Brexit will not be reversed, but there is now a realistic chance that Britain will begin to repair its relationship with the EU.
Five reasons driving European defence integration after the Ukraine invasion
The shock of the Ukraine war, rising national defence budgets, and a European Commission in the driving seat could finally bring about true European defence integration and consolidation
The Northern Ireland crisis: Boris Johnson’s latest Brexit bait
A prime minister looking for escape from the latest political hole he is in has spotted one way out – stoking tensions with the EU at Northern Ireland’s expense
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
In this seventh episode of our mini-series , Mark Leonard and Susi Dennison talk to Nick Witney and Camille Grand about the potential for a great reset in UK-EU relations, especially regarding cooperation on defence
The NATO Summit and the future of European Defence
Mark Leonard is joined by Nick Witney, Jana Puglierin, and Tara Varma, to evaluate the outcomes of the NATO Summit in Madrid, especially regarding European defence
European defence reloaded
What are the biggest challenges in building greater European sovereignty in defence? And how will this effort be funded?
Building Europeans’ Capacity to Defend Themselves
Mark Leonard launches ECFR’s special summer series on European sovereignty with a discussion of the continent’s security and defence policy. He is joined by Nick…
Summer series: Military and security dimensions of European sovereignty
Mark Leonard speaks with Tomas Valasek and Nick Witney about what the real military dependence of Europeans on America looks like and what is possible…
Strategy or Cacophony? – Is there a European strategic culture?
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…
Has PESCO turned sour?
ECFR’s director Mark Leonard discusses the launch of PESCO, the latest collective European defence initiative with ECFR Senior Policy Fellow Nick Witney and Policy Fellow,…
Défense européenne : Londres, un allié “indispensable mais indisponible”
Nouveau podcast de notre série sur les présidentielles de 2017 ayant pour objectif de traiter les thèmes d'actualité et de contribuer au débat dans la perspective…
ECFR’s World in 30 Minutes: European Defence
Mark Leonard speaks with former Director of the European Defence Agency Nick Witney, Manuel Lafont Rapnouil and Ulrike Esther Franke about European defence in the…
In the media
Nick Witney comments on European nations undermining the EU’s defence industrial strategy by buying from American defence contractors
And then you really have to wonder what the US nuclear guarantee is worth
Nick Witney comments on the potential threat of nuclear weapons
Nick Witney on British and US air strikes in Yemen
In this interview, Nick Witney talks about the possibility of triggering Article 7 against Hungary
A lot of the time, it’s really an issue of protectionism, vested interest, and inertia
Nick Witney explains why Europeans struggle to pool defence-industrial production