RUSI State Threats Taskforce: ‘Assessing the Responses’

In line with the UK’s Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy, RUSI set up a State Threats Taskforce to support the UK and its partners in detecting, understanding and responding to such challenges in February 2023. As part of this work, RUSI has held two expert workshops on different aspects of state threats. This report provides an overview of the key themes discussed in the second workshop in May 2023, which focused on the challenges faced by the UK national security architecture in responding to state threats, and potential approaches and actions which might improve the UK’s response.

The meeting opened with introductions and guidance from the chair, and an initial presentation recapping the findings of the first workshop, held on 9 February 2023. The presentation was used to frame discussions during the opening plenary session, which was followed by three parallel breakout group discussions looking at key challenges and recommendations for policy responses in the areas of central government, cyber security and information operations, and illicit finance. The meeting was concluded with a further plenary session to sum up key findings. As the meeting was conducted under the Chatham House Rule, names and affiliations of participants are not included here. For ease of reference, this report does not provide a direct transcript of the discussions, but an overview of participants’ insights, grouped by theme.