RUSI in the News 11 April - 17 April

Op-Eds

Why Putin isn't hurt by Panama revelations
Yet probably the biggest reason why Mr Putin was able to shake off allegations about his inner circle is, paradoxically, the fact that the Russian leader has already been subjected to months of accusations about his and his friends' financial dealings. And there is little doubt that these were orchestrated by some Western governments.
Jonathan Eyal for The Straits Times, 14 April

The era of mega-leaks has arrived
But there is worse, for the entire campaign against offshore accounts and anonymous investment vehicles which the Panama Papers has unleashed proceeds from the assumption that secrecy in financial matters is almost always bad.
Jonathan Eyal for The Straits Times, 11 April

Broadcast

Counter-radicalisation

Raffaello Pantucci on BBC Radio 4, 12 April 

The Giulio Regeni case

HA Hellyer for Al Jazeera, 16 April

US-Russia Relations

Justin Bronkfor ABC, 14 April

Quoted in the Media

Russia and the Second World War

The mystery veteran who won the internet's heart
Dr Igor Sutyagin, a Russian military expert at RUSI told BBC Trending that it's possible the man was as young as 75 in the photo. "The usual minimum age for conscription to the Red Army was 17"

Igor Sutyagin for the BBC  14 April

US – Russia relations

US, Russia Full Out War? The Dangers Of ‘Simulated Attack’ In The Baltic
“Say they had an engine failure or a hydraulic failure, and the Russian jet had barreled into the side of the destroyer, you would have had multiple U.S. Navy casualties and possibly even the loss of a ship. That’s the sort of thing that starts wars,” Bronk was quoted as saying by the NBC News.
Justin Bronk in Morning News USA, 18 April

Counter-terror

Weapon adverts removed from Facebook
“Given the flow that we already see of human trafficking and other sorts of illicit flows across the water into Europe it is not beyond the realm of possibility that we could see some of these weapons going across the water into Europe.”
Raffaello Pantucci for Daily Mail

Terror Threat Weighs on U.K.
“The nature of the threat in the United Kingdom is different than in France in certain respects—for example, there is easier access to heavy weaponry and ammunition on the European continent,” said Raffaello Pantucci, the director of International Security Studies at the Royal United Services Institute.
Raffaello Pantucci in The Wall Street Journal, 11 April

Russia and the Syrian Crisis

On Ground in Syria, Scant Evidence of Draw Down Trumpeted by Kremlin
"All that's really gone is the fixed wing close air support attack jets," he said. "On the rotary side it's a substantially more formidable force than it was."
Justin Bronk for Reuters 15 April

The Giulio Regeni case

President defends Egypt's investigation of Giulio Regeni murder
“He seems to have taken, as other officials have, to referring in the same breath to an Egyptian national who went missing in Italy as though there’s some kind of comparison here,” said HA Hellyer, of the Royal United Services Institute.
HA Hellyer for The Guardian, 13 April

North Korea Sanctions

In Dandong, signs China may enforce tougher N.Korean sanctions 
“Dandong’s role as a hub for North Korean coal and iron ore trade will make it a key test case for how Beijing is approaching implementation of new restrictions on those goods,” said Andrea Berger, deputy director of the proliferation and nuclear policy program at the Royal United Services Institute in London.
Andrea Berger in NK News, 13 April

Panama Papers

What the Panama Papers don’t say about global finance is just as troubling
"It looks pretty systematic," he said. "The issue has become so entrenched over the past four or five years."
Tom Keatinge for The Washington Post, 14 April

Cyber Security

World Energy Council: Cyber threat to world energy
“If the situation deteriorated between the UK and Russia it’s feasible that the Russian state could encourage some of its non-state actors to act on its behalf. This is happening more broadly in terms of Ukraine.”
Ewan Lawson in City AM, 17 April

Turkey was no.1 target for DDoSers in Q4 2015
"it's a demonstration of Russian power in a deniable way", Ewan Lawson, a cyber-warfare expert at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) told SC, "you [Turkey] cant démarche it you cant take action against it but in the meantime its really screwing up your day."
Ewan Lawson for SC Magazine, 15 April

Update: Swedish airports suffer potential cyber-attack
"There's an element of privateering to this", said Lawson, its probably "not the Russian government saying 'go attack the Swedish air traffic control'", but  the product of a slightly more complex arrangement between Russian geopolitical objectives and those who might want to carry them out. 
Ewan Lawson for SC Magazine, 15 April

Europe, Stop Trying To Make ‘Intelligence Sharing’ Happen
Ewan Lawson, of the Royal United Services Institute, a defense think tank in London, put it this way, “If you said to a portion of the British population that their vehicles’ movements in the U.K. would be shared with the French, there would be a degree of uproar.
Ewan Lawson for Foreign Policy, April 14

Missile Defence

ISIS 'could fire long-range ballistic missiles at London' says defence expert in chilling warning
Speaking at a missile defence conference Peter Roberts, a senior researcher at the Royal United Services Institute think tank, said the UK capital is a target for militants planning an eye-catching propaganda attack - or to cause economic chaos.
Pete Roberts in The Mirror, 13 April

Ballistic missile 'threat to London'
“We are not looking at adversaries who are planning to engage in a decisive battle, we are not looking at adversaries who are going to fight by our rules.
Pete Roberts in The Telegraph and RT, 13 April

Militants will attack London with missiles because security services have become so adept at defending Britain from conventional terror plots, experts warn
Those that have the ability and the interest in taking a shot at London. London is attractive because it is so well defended there is no other way to hit it.'
Pete Roberts in The Daily Mail, 13 April

ISIS could attack London with missiles because it's too well defended for suicide bombings, expert warns
He said: “The number of operations that the security services and the police unpick and overturn every year makes it a very difficult target.
Pete Roberts in The Sun, 13 April

Iran gets first part of Russian missile system
The Royal United Services Institute, a British think tank, said the system in its updated form is one of the most advanced systems of its kind and could engage multiple aircraft and ballistic missiles around 150 km away.
Al Arabiya, 11 April

RUSI Events

Anti-radicalisation Prevent strategy has fallen short but still works says UK's top Muslim cop
Earlier addressing the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) Chishty told the London think tank that in the aftermath of the murder of British army soldier Lee Rigby, tackling radicalisation required "self regulation" among Muslim leaders, mosques and madrassas (Islamic schools) to counter misinterpretations of the Koran.
Mak Chishty in International Business Times, 15 April