Nicholas WestcottCMG (born 20 July 1956) is a Professor of Practice in the Department of Politics and International Studies at SOAS University of London. Prior to this, he was director of the Royal African Society from 2017-2023. He was formerly a member of Her Majesty's Diplomatic Service, serving as British High Commissioner to Ghana and as managing director for Africa and the Middle East in the European External Action Service. He has also published a number of books and articles on African history and international affairs.
He joined the British diplomatic service in 1982, serving in the UK Representation to the European Union in Brussels from 1985 to 1989, as the Deputy High Commissioner in Tanzania (1993–1996), and as Minister-Counsellor in the Embassy of the United Kingdom, Washington, D.C. (1999–2002). In the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (then the FCO) Westcott worked as head of the Economic Relations Department (1996–1999), and as chief information officer and head of IT strategy from 2002 to 2007.[3] He was appointed British High Commissioner to Ghana in 2008–2011,[4] and served simultaneously as British Ambassador to Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Niger and Togo.[5][6] In 2011, President Laurent Gbagbo of the Ivory Coast expelled Westcott and Canadian Ambassador Marie Isabelle Massip after their respective governments said they would no longer recognize Gbagbo as President after he lost the 2010 election.[7]
In November 2017, Westcott returned to London to take up the role of director of the Royal African Society, and was appointed a research associate at the Centre for International Studies and Diplomacy as SOAS University of London He was made professor of practice in diplomacy in the Department of Politics in February 2023.[11]
Westcott was married for 30 years to Miriam Pearson (died 2018). They have one daughter and one son.[citation needed]
Publications
"The Impact of the Second World War on Tanganyika, 1939–49" in D. Killingray and R. Rathbone (ed.), Africa and the Second World War (1986), ISBN0-333-38258-7
Managed Economies in World War II, with P. Kingston and R. G. Tiedemann (1991), ISBN0728601893
Digital Diplomacy: the Impact of the Internet on International Relations, (2008)[13]
Responding to Conflict and Promoting Stability: European Policy in the Middle East and North Africa (2017)[14]
"The Trump Administration's Africa policy" (2019), African Affairs[15]
Imperialism and Development: the East African Groundnut Scheme and its legacy (2020), ISBN978-1-84701-259-3