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Commentary and Multimedia
RUSI experts and associates provide analysis on the latest developments in defence, security and international affairs.
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Financial Crime Insights Podcast Series The episodes in this series are based on past Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies (CFCS) events with top thinkers on topics that remain relevant in the world of financial crime. |
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Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series Hosted by Veele Nouwens, this podcast provides an essential a platform to discuss the key defence and security questions of the world’s most dynamic region: the Indo-Pacific. |

Preparedness, Procurement and Defence Governance in Central and Eastern Europe
Commentary, 17 December 2020Natalie Hogg
Transparency International’s Government Defence Integrity Index for Central and Eastern Europe suggests slippage in defence governance standards across the region.
Defence Management, Information, Europe
Mandates and Mali: The Challenge of Directing UN Peacekeeping
Commentary, 17 December 2020Ewan Lawson
The mandate of the UN operation in Mali to which the UK is currently contributing is suffering from handicaps which have been known for many years, but have yet to be addressed.
United Nations, UK, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, Africa
Key Middle East Influencers on US Iran Policy and the Implications for the UK
Commentary, 16 December 2020Sanam Vakil
Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq will be looking to influence the Biden administration’s Iran policy. Maintaining access to and engagement with these influencers will be important for the UK’s...
Iran's Nuclear Programme, Iranian Nuclear Pathways, United States, Iran, Iraq, UK, Israel
Get Serious: Illicit Finance is a Threat to the US–UK Special Relationship
Commentary, 15 December 2020Tom Keatinge
As President-elect Joe Biden commits to tackling illicit finance, Boris Johnson’s lack of leadership on the matter risks being embarrassingly revealed.
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, United States, AML/CTF, UK, Global Security Issues
Unpacking the UK’s Newly Announced Centre on Artificial Intelligence
Commentary, 14 December 2020Trevor Taylor
The UK’s newly announced defence centre on artificial intelligence is still a vision, in search of a role.
Cyber, Defence, Industries and Society, UK Integrated Review 2021, UK, Technology, UK Defence
The Latecomer: Germany's Debate on Armed Drones
Commentary, 11 December 2020Lydia Wachs
Only days before an expected decision by the German parliament on arming Germany’s drones, the drone debate is polarising national politics.
Aerospace, Germany, Technology
Countering Chinese Influence in Central and Eastern Europe: An Exclusively Regional Approach Is Not the Answer
Commentary, 10 December 2020Łukasz Janulewicz
Plans by Joe Biden’s incoming US presidential team to use one European regional cooperation structure as a counterpoint to China’s growing influence are unlikely to prove very effective.
China, United States, Europe
The Biden Administration and the Future of US–India Ties
Commentary, 9 December 2020Aaditya Dave
Mutual concerns around China’s assertiveness, as well as economic and diaspora ties, will sustain the positive trajectory of the US–India relationship.
China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, United States, India
US Weapons Sales to Taiwan: Upholding the Porcupine Strategy
Commentary, 8 December 2020Sidharth Kaushal
It is not the size but the composition of the latest package of US arms sales to Taiwan that is noteworthy.
China, Military Sciences, United States, US Defence Policy, Maritime Forces, Pacific
Russia’s Port Sudan Naval Base: A Power Play on the Red Sea
Commentary, 7 December 2020Samuel Ramani
Russia is planning to expand its naval power projection on the Red Sea.
Russia, SudanPages

Australia’s Indo-Pacific Approach: Principles and Partnerships
Multimedia, 2 December 2020This week, Veerle is joined by Professor Rory Medcalf, Head of the National Security College at the Australian National University and internationally-recognised thought leader for his work on the...
Tags: Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
Episode Five: New Technologies, Old Methods in Terrorism Financing
Multimedia, 27 November 2020Terrorists of all types exploit technology to raise, use and move funds. CFCS’s Stephen Reimer speaks with security consultant and former Canadian intelligence analyst Jessica Davis about terrorists...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
Episode Six: FATF’s Strategic Review
Multimedia, 27 November 2020The Financial Action Task Force has undoubtedly raised financial crime compliance standards around the world, but money laundering remains a present and growing issue. CFCS’s Isabella Chase is...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
People as the Decisive Advantage
Multimedia, 26 November 2020Some capabilities are fundamental to military activities, but strategic capabilities tend to be valuable, rare, and inimitable. That means they tend to be human, not technical. HR guru Professor...
Tags: Military Sciences
Forceful Persuasion: The Psychology of Convincing an Opponent They Are Beaten
Multimedia, 25 November 2020Tags: Adversarial Studies, Military Sciences

Western Way of War: HYPErsonics?
Multimedia, 19 November 2020Great powers are pressing ahead with hypersonic weapons, yet in adoption and adaptation there seems to be a missing foundational understanding of what the arrival of Mach 10 precision munitions means...
Tags: Military Sciences
ASEAN’s Outlook: Maintaining Centrality in the Indo-Pacific
Multimedia, 18 November 2020This week, Veerle is joined by Dr. Evan Laksmana, senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Dr. Huong Le Thu, senior analyst at the...
Tags: Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
Episode four: Corruption and Finance in the UK
Multimedia, 12 November 2020The UK regularly finds itself at the centre of money laundering and corruption scandals. But how dire is the situation, really, and is there any hope for change? Author Oliver Bullough does a reality...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
Western Way of War: When Did Everything Become Securitised?
Multimedia, 12 November 2020Alice Billon-Galland explains to Peter Roberts what a forward-looking reflective exercise is for NATO and what this issues are between the Atlantic Alliance and the EU. They get into why patchwork...
Tags: Military Sciences
Western Way of War: Utility vs Utilisation
Multimedia, 5 November 2020Given the discussion of 'sunset' capabilities and the growing feeling in Brussels that the UK has a credibility problem inside NATO, Peter talks to Mungo Melvin (military historian and former soldier...
Tags: Military Sciences
Diversity in the UK's Intelligence Agencies
Financing Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism
New UK Government Initiative to Support High-Risk, High-Reward Military Science Needs Refinement