Ian Williams

Ian Williams is a fellow in the International Security Program at CSIS and deputy director of the Missile Defense Project, where he specializes in missile defense and strategic forces, missile proliferation, and deterrence. His work has appeared in publications such as Defense News, Defense One, and National Interest. In 2017, Ian co-authored the major CSIS study Missile Defense 2020 (2017), an extensive analysis of U.S. homeland missile defense. He is also the managing editor of the CSIS website Missile Threat, an online clearing house for information and analysis on missile proliferation and missile defense systems. Ian has made numerous appearances on global news programs, including ABC, NBC, CNN, NPR, and the BBC. His commentary has appeared in newspapers such as the New York Times, the Washington Post, USA Today, Newsweek, and others. Prior to joining CSIS, he was director of advocacy at the Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance. During his graduate studies, Ian interned at the Center for the Study of Weapons of Mass Destruction at National Defense University, the Arms Control Association, and Wikistrat, an online consultancy firm. He holds a B.A. from Southern Illinois University and an M.S. in defense and strategic studies from Missouri State University, where he studied arms control, WMD proliferation, missile defense, and nuclear strategy. Before entering the field of security studies, Ian worked in international education, living for extensive periods in Russia, Korea, and the United Arab Emirates. He also served for six years as an engineer in the U.S. Army Reserve.