William Alberque is a Visiting Fellow at the Henry L. Stimson Center. He previously served as Director of NATO’s Arms Control, Disarmament, and Non-Proliferation Centre and the Director of Strategy, Technology, and Arms Control at the IISS, focusing on nuclear deterrence, outer space security, and risk reduction. Prior to that, he served as and worked for the US Government for more than two decades on nuclear security and safeguards, WMD non-proliferation, arms control, CSBMs, SALW, CBRN defense, pandemic response, and nuclear accident response.
After studying Aeronautical Engineering at the University of Bristol, Mike joined the Royal Air Force in 1991. He served as a Harrier pilot on No 3 (Fighter) Squadron at RAF Laarbruch in Germany, conducting operations flying from the Royal Navy’s aircraft carrier, HMS Illustrious, patrolling the no-fly zone over Southern Iraq and then missions flying over the Balkans from Southern Italy. He was then selected for the Harrier Qualified Weapon Instructor course, and on completion was posted to No 1(Fighter) Squadron at RAF Cottesmore, becoming night carrier qualified and once again conducting operational missions flying over the Balkans.
In 2001 Mike was selected to go on exchange, flying the F16 with the Royal Netherlands Air Force for 3 years. On completion of the exchange tour in 2004, he was posted to the Defence Procurement Agency in Bristol as a Eurofighter Typhoon Requirements Manager. After 2 years Mike was fortunate to be selected to fly Typhoon and posted to RAF Coningsby to help stand-up No XI Squadron, the RAF’s second frontline Typhoon squadron.
In 2009 Mike attended the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the Joint Services Command and Staff College in Shrivenham. On completion he was posted to the Capability Equipment Plan in MOD Main Building, Whitehall. Here he helped develop, programme and manage Defence’s equipment programme changes through the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010.
In 2012 Mike was posted to RAF Leuchars to command No 6 Squadron, a frontline Typhoon squadron. In 2014 he was promoted to Group Captain and served as the Personal Staff Officer to the Chief of the Air Staff. In 2016 he took command of Royal Air Force Coningsby, Lincolnshire, a Typhoon Main Operating Base and home to the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, here he flew, Typhoons, Spitfires and Hurricanes. In Nov 2018 he was promoted to Air Commodore and took over as the Head of Capability Strategy in the Ministry of Defence, looking after future capabilities for Defence as well as being an integral part of the cross Government 2020 Integrated Review. He successfully completed the Higher Command and Staff Course in 2021.
Mike then went on to be the RAF’s Combat Air Force Commander, responsible for leading the Typhoon and Lightning F35 Forces, across 4 Main Operating Bases, as well as the Red Arrows display team and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. He regained his Typhoon Combat Ready status, flying Quick Reaction Alert missions as well conducting operational missions over Iraq and Syria with his squadrons. An experienced Typhoon operator with over 1500 hours, he was responsible for bringing together the F35 and Typhoon Forces together operationally for the first time and developing 4th and 5th Gen employment strategies that would be used in the response to the Ukraine crisis.
He has recently joined BAE Systems as their Combat Air Strategy Director, working on the development and construction of the Company’s Combat Air Strategy - integrating capabilities, skillsets and industrial expertise across its Combat Air portfolio.
Professor Justin Bronk is the Senior Research Fellow for Airpower and Technology in the Military Sciences team at RUSI, and the Editor of the RUSI Defence Systems online journal.
His particular areas of expertise include the modern combat air environment, Russian and Chinese ground-based air defences and fast jet capabilities, the air war during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, unmanned combat aerial vehicles and novel weapons technology. He has written extensively for RUSI and a variety of external publications, as well as appearing regularly in the international media.
Justin also holds a Professor II position at the Royal Norwegian Air Force Academy, and is a member of the Editorial Board of the Scientific and Technical Journal "Weapons and Equipment" at the Central Scientific Research Institute of Arms and Military Equipment of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
His PhD examined Balancing Imagination and Design in British Combat Aircraft Development at the Defence Studies Department of Kings College London.
Justin is also a private light aircraft and glider pilot.
Rachel Ellehuus became Director-General of RUSI on 6 January 2025.
Rachel joined RUSI after serving nearly three years at the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) as the United States Secretary of Defense Representative in Europe and Defense Advisor to the United States’ Mission to NATO.
Prior to that, she was Deputy Director of the Europe and Eurasia Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, DC and a Senior Advisor at WestExec Advisors. Previously, she served in multiple roles in the U.S. Department of Defense to include Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Policy. Her time in the Pentagon also included an exchange to the UK Ministry of Defence's Strategy Unit, where she worked on the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review.
Rachel has numerous publications to her name, most recently Europe’s High-End Military Challenges (2022) and The Challenge of Political Will in Europe (2022). She holds a BA from Colgate University and a MA from the College of Europe.
Peter Nilsson is Vice President and Head of Business Unit Advanced Program within Saab Aeronautics focusing on future systems & platforms within Air Domain.
Before this position, Peter Nilsson was based in London being the Head of Future Programmes within Saab UK, which covers Saab’s fully portfolio within Air, Land, Naval and the Civil Security domain with a focus at a 5-15 years’ perspective.
Prior to joining Saab Europe, Peter Nilsson was Vice president for business development within the air domain in North America, based in Washington D.C, and was the Deputy Capture Lead for the joint T-X program between Saab and Boeing.
Prior to Saab, Peter Nilsson (Ret Lt Col) served as a fighter pilot within the Swedish Air Force for 23 years as a fighter pilot with more than 2000 fast jet flying hours in different types of aircraft. His last assignment in the Swedish Air Force was Commander of the Gripen OT&E Unit.
Peter Nilsson is a Swedish Air Force Academy graduate and have a Master level degree in Management Leadership and Strategy from the Swedish Defence University, Stockholm. Peter Nilsson also holds a degree from the International Executive Program at Stockholm’s School of Economics.
Dr Burcu Ozcelik is a Senior Research Fellow for Middle East Security within the International Security department at RUSI.
With over 15 years’ experience in geopolitical risk analysis, security and threat assessments, and strategic advisory in both the public and private sector, Burcu specialises in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, Turkey and the Eastern Mediterranean. Prior to joining RUSI, Burcu worked as an Associate Director at a London-based consultancy firm leading the MENA practice. She previously worked with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
Her research sits at the intersection of the international relations of the Middle East, political theories of recognition, reconciliation and democratisation and contributes to a critical literature on the crisis and evolution of state sovereignty, the role of non-state actors, extremist ideologies, and the politics of borders and territoriality in the Middle East.
Burcu holds a PhD in Politics and International Studies and an MPhil in Development Studies from the University of Cambridge and subsequently held the Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship at the Department of Politics and International Studies where she taught Conflict, Peacebuilding, and the Politics of the Middle East. She has extensive experience with Turkey, Iraq, Syria, Iran, and Israel.
Her peer-reviewed article, ‘What Can a Political Form of Reconciliation Look Like in Divided Societies? The Deliberative “Right to Justification” and Agonistic Democracy’, was awarded the inaugural Iris Young & David Held International Prize in Democratic Theory.
Heather Penney is a Senior Resident Fellow at the Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies, where she is responsible for conducting extensive research on cutting-edge defense policy with a focus on the leverage aerospace power affords. Penney comes to the Mitchell Institute with extensive knowledge of the defense industrial base and military operations. Having spent over ten years in the defense industry, she understands the unique relationship, regulations, and dynamics that govern defense acquisition, as well as the strengths, innovations, and limitations of both industry and the military. Her long military career, which includes two combat tours flying the F-16, also affords her the ability to understand aerospace power and defense strategy at the national level, as well as the nuts-and-bolts details that effect executing those strategic aims at the operational and tactical warfighter level. Her research portfolio has included information architectures in combat operations; the defense industrial base; future force designs and operational concepts; networks; advanced technologies; and unmanned and autonomous aircraft, among others.
Air Marshal Johnny Stringer, Royal Air Force, has been the Deputy Commander of NATO's Allied Air Command, headquartered at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, since August 2022.
Air Marshal Johnny Stringer was born in Sale and educated at Watford Boys’ Grammar School and New College, University of Oxford. Johnny was sponsored by the Royal Air Force (RAF) through both 6th Form and University, and after officer and pilot training, he joined the Jaguar Force at Royal Air Force (RAF) Coltishall in 1993. A Qualified Weapon Instructor, he flew operationally over the Former Yugoslavia and helped enforce the Northern Iraq No Fly Zone. His staff experience at Squadron Leader (OF-3) and Wing Commander (OF-4) included tours in the RAF’s fast jet group Headquarters and in the Ministry of Defence on future combat air capability.
From 2007 to 2009, Johnny commanded 29 Squadron, the Typhoon Operational Conversion Unit at RAF Coningsby; leaving on promotion, he spent two years as Deputy Assistant Chief of Staff (DACOS) Joint Effects in the J3 Division of the UK Permanent Joint Headquarters at Northwood. He returned to New College as a visiting Trenchard Fellow on the Oxford Changing Character of War programme in autumn 2011.
Between October 2012 and September 2014, Johnny commanded RAF Coningsby and its Typhoon Wing, supporting national and overseas Typhoon operations, and displayed the Spitfire and Hurricane with the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight. He was posted as Assistant Chief of Staff Operations (ACOS Ops) to Headquarters Air Command in August 2015 before commanding No.83 Expeditionary Air Group as the U.K. Air Component Commander between October 2016 and October 17, in charge of all national air operations in the fight against Daesh (also known as the Islamic State) in Operation SHADER and across the region.
Promoted to Air Vice-Marshal, Johnny was Chief of Staff at U.K. Joint Forces Command (JFC) and subsequently Director Strategy as JFC evolved into UK Strategic Command, overseeing its work on the 2021 UK Defence and Security Integrated Review. He has recently concluded a professional placement with Rebellion Defence.
Johnny is a graduate of the UK Advanced and Higher Command and Staff Courses, the Royal College of Defence Studies and holds Masters degrees from Oxford and Kings College London. He has over 3,000 flying hours, predominantly on single seat combat aircraft.
Dr Jack Watling is Senior Research Fellow for Land Warfare at the Institute. Jack works extensively with the British and allied militaries on force development and operational analysis. Jack has worked extensively in Ukraine during Russia’s invasion, in Iraq during the campaign to defeat Daesh, in Mali, Rwanda and further afield. He is the Co-author alongside Nick Reynolds of War by Others’ Means: Delivering Effective Partner Force Capacity Building (2021).
