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RUSI Newsbrief
May 2016 , No: 3

Rethinking CTF Strategy: From Stopping Terrorist Financing to Using Finance to Stop Terrorists

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Tom Keatinge

Rather than focusing on the near-impossible task of stopping terrorist financing, policy-makers should instead focus on using financial intelligence to stop terrorists.

AML/CTF, Information, Intelligence, Terrorism

The Myth of Special German Business Ties with Russia

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Marcus Felsner

The assumption that the EU is hamstrung in its dealings with Moscow because German business is beholden to Russian companies is false. There is no special German–Russian business link.

Russian Orthodox Patriarch Alexy II blesses President Vladimir Putin, right, outside Christ the Saviour Cathedral in Kaliningrad, Russia. Courtesy of AP/Press Association Images.

Putin’s Russia: Concocting an Ideology to Justify an Estrangement

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Jonathan Eyal

President Putin’s rush to engage with Orthodox Christianity has more to do with politics than piety as he emphasises the differences between Russia and the rest of Europe.

Global Security Issues, History
Russian pilots march after returning from Syria, March 2016. Tehran may view Moscow’s partial withdrawal from the conflict as a way to regain its lost influence over the Syrian regime. Courtesy of AP/Press Association Images.

Tehran’s Bittersweet Friendship with Moscow

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Aniseh Bassiri Tabrizi

Despite closer military and economic ties between Russia and Iran, Tehran remains wary of Moscow.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, left, and UK Prime Minister David Cameron, third right, in Tripoli, September 2011. The allies pursued rapid regime change in Libya. Courtesy of Eric Feferberg/AP/Press Association.

Re-examining the Lessons of the Libya Intervention

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Sarah Brockmeier

Only a detailed dissection of the failures in decision-making during the Libyan intervention will stop the same mistakes being made again.

United Nations, NATO, International Institutions, UK Defence
Yemeni soldiers from the 1st Armoured Division. Image courtesy of Wikipedia Commons.

Yemen: Militias Vying for Control

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Baraa Shiban

Al-Qa’ida and Houthi rebels compete to fill the vacuum created by the absence of a functioning central government in Yemen.

Al-Qa'ida
EU Foreign Policy chief Federica Mogherini talks with Chinese officials in May 2015. Beijing does not want the EU to play a role in the South China Sea. Courtesy of Kim Kyung-hoon/AP/Press Association Images.

Europe’s ‘Principled Pragmatism’ on the South China Sea

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Theresa Fallon

As China flexes its muscles in the South China Sea, the EU is trying to balance supporting the rule of law with its need to maintain good relations with Beijing.

Maritime Forces
The Indonesian Navy blows up a foreign fishing boat off Batam Island on 22 February 2016 as part of its campaign to battle illegal fishing in its territorial waters. Courtesy of M Urip/AP/Press Association Images.

Indonesia and the South China Sea

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

John McBeth

Will Indonesia’s aspirations to become a regional maritime power set it on a collision course with China?

Global Security Issues, Maritime Forces
An internally displaced Afghan child stands outside a shanty town in Kabul, December 2010. There are now 1.3 million internally displaced Afghans. Image courtesy of Staff Sergeant Stacey Haga/Wikipedia Commons.

The Real Reasons for Afghan Migration

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Dermot Rooney

Afghans are not only forced from their homelands by war and tribal conflict, competition for resources also plays a large part.

NATO, The War on Terror, Al-Qa'ida, Global Security Issues

Nuclear Weapons on Trial: The Marshall Islands Versus the United Kingdom

RUSI Newsbrief, May 2016

Emil Dall

The tiny Marshall Islands goes to the International Court of Justice to compel nuclear weapon states to commit to disarmament.

Proliferation and Nuclear Policy