Maxwell Downman

Co-Director

Maxwell Downman was the Co-Director of BASIC, as part of the Executive Management Team, with full executive responsibilities for programme delivery and the strategic growth and development of the think tank until November 2019. His research focuses include nuclear risk reduction, NATO and the role of nuclear weapons in transatlantic diplomacy, as well as disarmament diplomacy in the NPT. He was also the Clerk for the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Global Security and Non-Proliferation, a cross-party group of UK parliamentarians working on WMD issues.

Prior to BASIC, Maxwell worked in the UK Parliament for a number of years on a range of policy issues, including counter-terrorism and Brexit. He holds an MA in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London and in Japanese Studies from the University of Edinburgh.

Maxwell Downman is an N-Square Fellow, an alumnus of Chinese MFA’s 2017 Young Sinologist Programme and has featured in numerous media outlets. Recent publications for BASIC include ‘Stepping Stones to Disarmament: Making progress in a polarise international climate’; ‘Re-emerging Nuclear Risks in Europe: Mistrust, ambiguity, escalation and arms-racing between NATO and Russia’ and ‘Peace through strength: Europea and NATO Deterrence beyond the US Nuclear Posture Review’ in International Affairs.

Areas of Expertise:

  • US Nuclear weapons policy

  • NATO

  • Multilateral disarmament and arms control initiatives

  • UK nuclear diplomacy and Trident

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