Michael Willams

Michael C Williams is a British diplomat. He has been appointed by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to serve as the UN Special Coordinator for Lebanon. He previously served as UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process and the Secretary-General’s Special Adviser on the Situation in the Middle East, before his appointment as the UK Special Representative for the Middle East and Special Projects. Prior to that, he was the Director for the Asia and the Pacific Division in the Department of Political Affairs. From 1999 to 2005, Mr Williams was the Special Adviser to two UK Foreign Secretaries, Robin Cook (1999-2001) and Jack Straw (2001-2005).

He held a number of senior positions with the UN in the 1990s, including Director of Human Rights in the UN Transitional Administration in Cambodia UNTAC and Director of Information in the UN Protection Force in Former Yugoslavia UNPROFOR. His previous experience ranges from working for the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the BBC World Service and Amnesty International. He is a member of the Executive Committee and Council of Chatham House (Royal Institute for International Affairs). He has written widely on Asian politics, international security and peacekeeping.

Mr Williams received a degree in the politics of developing areas from the School of Oriental and African Studies in 1973, and subsequently earned a doctorate in politics from SOAS.