RUSI in the News: 2 July - 7 July
Broadcast
Karin von Hippel on the Chilcot Inquiry, Sky News
Malcolm Chalmers on the Chilcot Inquiry, ITV
Michael Clarke on the Chilcot Inquiry, BFBS
RUSI analysts also appeared live on Al Jazeera, CNN, BBC and Sky News
Op Eds
The benefit of hindsight: the Chilcot report
Nonetheless, the Chilcot Committee report, released in London yesterday, isn’t wasted energy as it dispels some of the more lurid conspiracy theories surrounding the Iraq war, and provides a dispassionate and astute narrative of a military campaign which drew in many other nations and ended up being controversial in all of them.
Jonathan Eyal for The Strategist 7 July
Reeling Labour braces for Chilcot Report on Iraq War
As Britain peels away from Europe and reconsiders its place in the world, the report’s findings will create a splash in British politics at a time when the waters are already unprecedentedly rough.
Shashank Joshi for Politico 7 July
What should we expect from the Chilcot Report?
A lot is expected from the report and it is not going to satisfy all audiences. However, It is vital the important lessons for how the business of conflict is conducted by the UK Government that must be identified, are not lost in the noise of the post-Brexit political tomfoolery currently dominating Westminster. Many died during the period the report covered and continue to do so today in the aftermath of the events it seeks to understand.
Ewan Lawson for The National, 6 July
UK-US relationship is a shadow hanging over Chilcot Report
Chilcot is correct when he asserts that in the future where the UK is the junior partner in a coalition it must be prepared to withdraw its contribution if it is felt that the strategic approach will not deliver the objectives agreed at the outset.
Ewan Lawson for The National, 8 July
Nato meets to send message to Russia
Still, the historic symbolism of today's summit will not be lost on anyone. For the Polish capital was the place where the old Soviet Union established the Warsaw Pact, the communist bloc's response to Nato. Now, it is the alliance's turn to meet in precisely the same building where old Warsaw Pact commanders held their summits.
Jonathan Eyal for The Straits Times, 8 July
Quoted in the Media
The Chilcot Inquiry
Chilcot – Over and Out
“The cost-benefit equation is changing, not because the benefits [of intervening] are bigger, but because the costs are lower,” says Malcolm Chalmers, a researcher at the Royal United Services Institute think-tank. “It’s like the American strategic culture after Vietnam. No one talks about counter-insurgency any more because no one wants to do it.”
Malcolm Chalmers in The FT, 3 July 2016
UK's Iraq War report to be out today
“Despite all the many other things he did and many people would argue lots of positive achievements, he will always be remembered for this fateful decision in 2003,“ said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director-general of defence think tank the Royal United Services Institute.
Malcolm Chalmers for AP, also The Daily Mail 06 July
What’s at stake in Britain’s Iraq war inquiry
"There is already general recognition that there were systemic failures in the operation after we entered Basra and the south," said Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute think tank.
Malcolm Chalmers for AFP, 6 July
NATO
Trip wire deterrence
Jonathan Eyal of RUSI, a London-based think-tank, reckons that there is “no escape” from tripwire deterrence, which worked for 40 years of the cold war when West Berlin was never defensible. The key will be the speed of decision-making. As much as possible, says Mr Eyal, decisions should be in the hands of the Supreme Allied Commander, General Curtis Scaparotti, rather than the Atlantic Council, NATO’s lumbering parliament.
Jonathan Eyal in The Economist 2 July
Russian Kaliningrad region poses challenge at NATO summit
"There was no reason to be very concerned five years ago when you could count on more or less peaceful behavior of the Russian side," said Igor Sutyagin, a research fellow in Russian studies at the Royal United Services Institute in London. "Now it's becoming more and more possible that these forces could be used, and this is reason for concern."
Igor Sutyagin in AP, 6 July
The EU Referendum
An aggravating absence
Within hours of the Brexit vote, Britain assured Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary-general, that the country’s commitment to the alliance was unchanged. Jonathan Eyal of RUSI, a think-tank, believes that Britain will want to “puff up” its NATO role. Perhaps it will make new gestures towards the collective defence of NATO’s eastern border against a resurgent Russian military threat.
Jonathan Eyal in The Economist 2 July
Admiral Lord West: Defence officials running around like “headless chickens” in the wake of Brexit vote
Leaving the EU would mean having to come up with a new defence strategy, the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) warned before the referendum vote last month.
Civil Service World, 5 July
The British military is facing an historic crisis
A June briefing paper from the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based defense and security research organization, described a possible withdrawal from the European Union as ‘significant a shift in national strategy as the country's decision in the late 1960s to withdraw from bases East of Suez.’
The Week, 2 July
Illegal Wildlife Trade
Animal Poaching: How Tracking Technology Could Help Prevent Wildlife Crime, Extinctions
The Royal United Services Institute, a think tank in London, released a 2015 report questioning the extent of terrorist groups’ involvement in the illegal ivory trade specifically.
Gateway Gazette 5 July
Countering Daesh
ISIS makes inroads into Kenya
Martine Zeuthen, a Kenya-based expert on violent extremism at Britain’s Royal United Services Institute, said the recent arrests ‘indicate that radicalisation continues to be a serious security concern’.
Martine Zeuthen for AFP, 2 July
Egypt
Demanding order, el-Sissi turns to military to rebuild Egypt
"As far as he is concerned, Egypt is facing a multitude of security threats that necessitates less discussion and more empowerment of the executive, whether society agrees or not," said H.A. Hellyer, a senior fellow at the Atlantic Council and the Royal United Services Institute.
HA Hellyer for AP, 8 July
UK Defence
Destroyer woes spark procurement inquiry
However, Peter Roberts, senior research fellow in sea power at the Royal United Services Institute, said the decision was flawed. “It was a poor innovation approach.”
Peter Roberts for IME, 6 JUly
Michael Fallon MP at RUSI Air Power Conference
Revealed: RAF's key role in forcing ISIS out of Fallujah
Mr Fallon added: “The RAF has not operated at this sustained operational tempo in a single theatre of conflict for over a quarter of a century.
“It is that tempo and commitment – our precision targeting, our ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance), and the overall support for the coalition, that is making such a difference – and is unlikely, for the moment, to abate.”
The Mirror, 7 July
Military heroes' fury after Tony Blair refuses to accept troops in Iraq did not have proper kit
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon outlined the equipment failings to the Royal United Services Institute Air Power Conference. He said: “The report is very comprehensive, very detailed and crystal clear about the failings.
“There were clearly failings in the initial supply of equipment in Iraq and those need to be explained and need to be accounted for.”
The Mirror, 7 July
Hundreds of British troops sent to Eastern Europe as part of UN plan to pressure Vladimir Putin
Speaking at the Royal United Services Institute Air Power Conference yesterday, Mr Fallon told the Mirror: “We will be making clear Britain’s contributions to the reassurance measures Nato is now planning on the eastern flank.
“We will be deploying more troops on the eastern flank alongside the Typhoons that are already in the skies above the Baltic and we will be leading the very high readiness task force that we take over next year.”
The Mirror, 8 July
UK Task Force To Help Military Avoid Missteps in Future Conflicts
“I have set up a specific team at the MoD to look at all the changes made since Op Telic — in our operations and what we learnt in Iraq and Afghanistan — to see if there is more we need to change in our procedures,” Defence Secretary Michael Fallon told a Royal United Service Institute conference in London on Thursday, a day after the report was released.
Defence News, 7 July
UK-Russia Relations
Farnborough 2016: UK given wake-up call over Russia
For example, Russia has the capacity to move tens of thousands of troops in a matter of days for long-term deployment, Dr Igor Sutyagin of the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) advised the committee.
Igor Sutyagin in Shepard Media, 5 July