RUSI in the News - September 2010
Citations of RUSI experts, analysis and events in the global media from September 2010
Strategic Defence and Security Review
As the Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) swiftly approaches, RUSI's forecast earlier this year that the UK's Armed Forces face personnel cuts of up to 20% over the next six years has become a point of reference for policymakers and commentators alike. RUSI claimed that these cuts would be unavoidable, and the idea has now become the backdrop to discussions on British defence. Cited in this month's House of Commons Defence Committee (HCDC) publication on the SDSR, RUSI has consistently advised the government and the media on the direction the spending review should take the UK's armed forces, and warned of the impact that an improperly conducted review will cause.
Coverage: The Economist, The Telegraph, BBC News, The Guardian, Public Finance, Russia Today, The Financial Times, The Times, Daily Mail, The Sunday Times, The Sunday Times, BBC News, The Guardian, Channel 4 News (No longer Available)
RUSI's core research programme on defence has highlighted many new aspects of global power relations. It has urged the government to carefully interpret the global environment and, in these times of austerity, gear British defence to new partnerships and more adaptable arrangements. RUSI undertook a survey of its specialist network and concluded that the UK must undergo a 'radical reassessment' of the position it wants to play, and is able to play, in world politics. With the release of the FDR paper Entente or Oblivion RUSI also expanded the debate about whether the UK can afford its independent capabilities and its co-operability with the United States. The paper 'Etienne de Durand' suggests that the UK should look to partner with France to maintain its standing in global politics.
Coverage: Sunday Express, Reuters
Trident
RUSI's research also emphasised the importance of considering Britain's Trident system within the framework of the Strategic Defence and Security Review. RUSI analysts have reinvigorated and contributed to the debate as to whether, and to what degree, Trident should be renewed.. RUSI has previously suggested this year to rethink the policy of a continuously at sea deterrent and to delay the start of the successor submarine so that 'peak spending' would not need to take place until 2019. RUSI's recommendation for a delay was reflected in subsequent reports that the decision on Trident renewal may not take place until 2015, and that the Treasury would not be able to guarantee the ring-fenced funding that was previously promised for the Trident system.
Coverage: The Guardian, The Financial Times, The Independent, The Guardian, The Independent, The New Statesman, The Sunday Times
 Afghanistan
UK armed forces handed over Sangin, in Helmand province, over to US forces this month. With almost a third of all UK casualties in Afghanistan being sustained in this area Michael Clarke argued that the UK withdrawal should not be seen as a defeat.
Coverage: CNN International, The Guardian
The Wikileaks saga continued, albeit timidly, into September, although the political fallout from its revelations no longer seems as great as before.
Coverage: United Kingdom Politics News
Terrorism
With the coming of the 7/7 bombings inquest in October, the focus on counter-terrorism has been growing more and more. RUSI Director Michael Clarke comments on why there has only been one successful Islamist attack on UK soil in the past 10 years.
Coverage: The Express
With the reported plans for a 'Commando-Style Terror Plot' on Europe, the UK has been on a heightened security alert against terrorist attack. Tobias Feakin was interviewed on the level of the present threat and the evolving nature of terrorism.
Coverage: Voice of America, Channel 4 News (no longer available), ITV News (no longer available)