RUSI and the Serious Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Evidence (SOC ACE) Programme Launch New ‘State Threats’ Report

The paper, titled ‘Old Wine in New Bottles? The Challenge of State Threats’ and authored by RUSI Senior Associate Fellow Matthew Redhead, examines the growing range of overt and covert threats from hostile state actors that face the UK and its allies, from commercial espionage and transnational repression, to ‘cybotage’ and malign political influence. The paper argues that although spying, sabotage and subversion are as old as history, they are now becoming the ‘weapons of choice’ for hostile actors. The paper highlights:

• The incredible range and volume of covert hostile activities being undertaken by Russia, China, Iran, and North Korea, and which do not get necessary attention. 
• The increasing willingness of these states to innovate and take higher risks in exploiting the vulnerabilities of free societies.
• The growing tendency of hostile states to use more violent, dangerous and disruptive measures ushering in a new period of ‘state terrorism’ to come.
• These states’ use of old-fashioned and hi-tech techniques, where tried-and-tested methods of human intelligence collection are combined with modern cyber tools.
• Their growing use of ‘whole of society’ efforts, mobilising tycoons and business contractors, as well as criminals, mercenaries, extremists and terrorists, to execute hostile state policy.

While focusing primarily on four core states of concern the report also reveals the spreading use of hostile covert activity, especially in the Middle East and Asia, arguing that a perceived decline of Western power, and increased instances of reckless hostile states are encouraging other state actors to follow suit.

Reflecting on his key findings, the report’s author Matthew Redhead said:

Founded in 1831, The Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) is an independent think tank engaged in cutting-edge defence and security research. As an independent charity, RUSI produces evidence-based research and convenes events on defence, security and international affairs to help build a safer UK and a more secure, equitable and stable world.

RUSI’s State Threats Taskforce (STT) aims to support the UK and its partners in detecting, understanding, attributing and responding to the spectrum of complex state threats currently facing democracies. Through a range of activities and other outputs, the overall objective of the STT is to deepen understanding of the dynamics of non-military state threats and offer ideas for realistic policy responses for both the UK and its allies.

The Serious Organised Crime & Anti-Corruption Evidence (SOC ACE) research programme aims to help ‘unlock the black box of political will’ for tackling serious organised crime, illicit finance and transnational corruption through research that informs politically feasible, technically sound interventions and strategies.

Funded by the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, SOC ACE is a new component in the Anti-Corruption Evidence research programme, alongside Global Integrity ACE and SOAS ACE. SOC ACE is managed by the University of Birmingham, working in collaboration with a number of leading research organisations and through consultation and engagement with key stakeholders. SOC ACE is funded by the UK Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office. The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the UK Government’s official policies.