John Bew

About

John Bew is a distinguished academic who has served in senior positions at the highest levels of the UK government. Bew spent over five years as the chief Foreign Policy Advisor in No10 Downing Street, working for four Prime Ministers and through two general elections. He was the author of the last two UK national security strategies and intimately involved in the foreign policy challenges of that period, from AUKUS to the war in Ukraine. 

Bew has extensive experience of international negotiations and supporting the prime minister at summits such as the G7, G20, NATO and UN General Assembly. A native of Belfast, he played a central role in the restoration of devolved institutions in Northern Ireland. Uniquely, he has worked across the aisle, serving both Conservative and Labour administrations and transitioning from a political appointee to a civil service role. In 2021, he also served as the UK’s representative to the NATO secretary general’s Reflections Group, which provided recommendations for the alliance’s 2022 Strategic Concept. 

Bew is currently professor of history and foreign policy in the War Studies Department at King’s College London, distinguished visiting fellow at the Hoover Institute and senior advisor at the Australian National Security College. He is an internationally recognised scholar and award-wining author. In 2012-13, he was the youngest ever holder of the Kissinger Chair at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress and in 2015 he won Leverhulme Prize for International Studies. Bew is the author of five books, including Realpolitik: A History, Talking to Terrorists and Castlereagh: A Life. His best known work is his biography of Clement Attlee which won three national awards, including the prestigious Orwell Prize. Bew began his academic career at Cambridge University where he took a first-class degree and won scholarships for his undergraduate and postgraduate study.