Sebastian Brixey-Williams

Co-Director

Sebastian Brixey-Williams is the Co-Director of BASIC, alongside Marion Messmer. He is a nuclear weapons expert and mediator, with expertise in disarmament politics, risk reduction, emerging technologies, international law, and UK nuclear weapons policy.

His central area of practice is on developing trust and international dialogue on states’ responsibilities in relation to nuclear weapons. He leads the Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities with Professor Nicholas J. Wheeler at the Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security, University of Birmingham. Their most recent publication Nuclear Responsibilities: A New Approach for Thinking and Talking about Nuclear Weapons (2020) aims to offer a way to shift the culture of global nuclear politics away from blame and towards responsibility.

A strong proponent of diversity and inclusion in the field, Sebastian established BASIC’s Emerging Voices Network and co-founded a breakfast series that produced the Gender, Think Tanks and International Affairs Toolkit (2021) with Chatham House and the Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. Sebastian is a Gender Champion in Nuclear Policy, an ELN Mentor, and a member of the Younger Generation Leadership Network on Euro-Atlantic Security. He is a 2020-2021 N Square Fellow.

Sebastian has addressed three All-Party Parliamentary Groups – on Drones, on Global Security and Non-Proliferation, and on Future Generations – and has been called to give evidence to the House of Lords International Relations Committee. He regularly features on the national and international media including BBC News, BBC Radio 4, CGTN, The Economist, Forces TV, The Guardian, and Sky News, and has published in Arms Control Wonk, The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, the European Leadership Network, and the World Economic Forum. He is interested in finding new ways to engage and educate the general public on nuclear weapons issues, through multi-stakeholder collaborations with the media, private sector and artists.

Sebastian holds a first-class degree from the University of York in English and Related Literature, and a first-class Master’s in International Studies and Diplomacy from the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where he received the Postgraduate School’s Prize.

Contact Sebastian

Office: +44 20 3488 6974

Read Sebastian Brixey-Williams’ Content

Discover below Sebastian’s posts ordered from newest to oldest

The Nuclear Weapons Dimensions of the 2021 Integrated Review: A First Look

The Johnson Government has set a decisive course away from the United Kingdom’s three decade-long trend of successive nuclear reductions and increasing transparency.

Report: Nuclear Responsibilities – A New Approach for Thinking and Talking about Nuclear Weapons

We seek in this report to suggest ways, and crucially propose a new method, to gradually shift the nature of the contemporary global conversation on nuclear weapons away from one characterised by rights, blame, and suspicion towards one framed by responsibility, empathic cooperation, and even trust.

Chapter: Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology

We are delighted to share this new short chapter, ‘Prospects for Game-Changers in Detection Technology’,…

Will COVID-19 force a break in the UK’s Continuous At-Sea Deterrence?

The Times’ Lucy Fisher reported yesterday that the Royal Navy (RN) has been alternating between…

Securing Empathy to Prevent Misunderstanding Among the Nuclear Five

This article was co-authored with Professor Nicholas J. Wheeler, Institute for Conflict, Cooperation and Security…

Report: Differentiated Nuclear Responsibilities among Non-Nuclear Possessor States – Perspectives from the Hague

What are the Netherlands’ responsibilities around nuclear weapons?

Everything you need to know about the Programme on ‘Nuclear Responsibilities’

What are ‘nuclear responsibilities’ and what are they for? Find out everything you need to know about the BASIC-ICCS Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities.

Super Critical Podcast: ‘When the Wind Blows’

Tim Westmyer, the host of the Super Critical Podcast, invited BASIC’s Co-Director Sebastian Brixey-Williams to…

Meet Our Staff

Our dedicated and professional team brings a diversity of expertise, approaches and perspectives. Meet its members below.

Fabian Hoffmann

Fabian Hoffmann is a Policy Intern supporting the Nuclear Responsibilities Programme.

Chiara Cervasio

Chiara Cervasio is a Policy Fellow, working on the Nuclear Responsibilities Programme.

Emily Enright

Emily Enright is a Policy Fellow and Coordinator of the Emerging Voices Network.

Chris Spedding

Chris Spedding is a Policy Fellow and Programme Manager at BASIC, managing the Emerging Technologies Programme.

Dr Gry Thomasen

Dr Gry Thomsen is a Policy Fellow at BASIC working on the Nuclear Disarmament Programme.

Alice Spilman

Alice Spilman is a Researcher on the Programme on Nuclear Responsibilities with BASIC and the ICCS, University of Birmingham.

Timothy Choi

Timothy Choi is a Consultant on BASIC’s Emerging Technologies Programme.

Laura Rose Brown

Laura Rose Brown is a Policy Intern supporting both the Nuclear Responsibilities Programme and the Emerging Voices Network within the Youth, Gender and Diversity workstream.

Dr Rishi Paul

Rishi Paul is a Senior Nuclear Policy Analyst at BASIC and leads our engagement in Southern Asia.