RUSI in the News - Week closing 20 March 2016

21 March 2016

Broadcast

Russian withdrawal from Syria

Sarah Lain on BBC Newsnight, 14 March

Paris attacks and Arrest of Abeslam

Raffaello Pantucci on Sky News, 18 March

What's behind Russia's withdrawal from Syria?

Shashank Joshi on AlJazeera, 16 March

Op-Eds by RUSI staff and fellows

Paris Attacks: Arrest of Salah Abdeslam Does Not Reduce ISIS Threat

Raffaello Pantucci in Newsweek, 19 March

The Islamic State Threat to Britain: Evidence from Recent Terror Trials

Raffaello Pantucci for CTC Sentinel, 17 March

Quoted in the Media

Lone-Actor Terrorism

Gun Control Key to Guarding Against Lone-Wolf Terrorism in Europe

RUSI report in World Politics Review, 15 March

The Syrian Crisis

NATO rethinks strategy after Russia's renewed military power show in Syria
"The belief which existed since 1990 that there are no prospects for military confrontation in Europe with Russia, that belief was dispelled by these operations," said Igor Sutyagin, a specialist in the Russian military at London's Royal United Services Institute. "It is now necessary to plan defence, while previously it was not."

Igor Sutyagin in The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 March

Advarsel til Assad
‘It is a clear message to Assad that he should take peace negotiations seriously and be ready to make the necessary compromises with the opposition.’

Shashank Joshi in Information (Denmark), 16 March

¿Es realmente una "misión cumplida" para Putin en Siria?
"The issue of Al Asad staying or being ousted is the point that blocks the Geneva negotiations " says Sarah Lain, the Royal United Services Institute ( RUSI ) in London. "I think the Russian withdrawal aims to accelerate negotiations on the political transition " in Syria.

Sarah Lain for AFP and El Observador, 20 March

North Korea Sanctions

The coal loophole: doubts on China's will to enforce North Korea sanctions
“I think it's an indication that the Chinese managed to negotiate a wide exemption for the coal trade,”

Andrea Berger on Reuters, 18 March

Intervention in Libya

5 Years on, Has the West Learned Anything from Libyan Disaster?
“Hard-line military activity to prevent migration into Europe across the Mediterranean could work: but it would involve killing migrants and enforced repatriation,” Peter Roberts, Sea Power and Maritime Studies Senior Research Fellow at the London-based military think-tank Royal United Services Institute, said in an article for the organization in September.

Peter Roberts on TeleSUR, 19 March

Global Counter-Terror

Record numbers of teenagers arrested in counter-terrorism probes
Shashank Joshi, senior research fellow at security think-tank the Royal United Services Institute (Rusi), said the figures suggest the counter-terrorism environment is "broadly steady”. "There is a high level of threat," he said. "A great deal of the threat is latent and is not going to show up in arrest figures.”

Shashank Joshi on BT.com on 17 March

Ivory Coast Massacre: 16 Dead Include 5-year-old Boy
‘“Attacking the evil Westerner is one of their prime intentions and goals. Hitting a resort like this hits a number of goals.” He added that it undermined the local government as tourism is a big driver of the local economy. Another reason for the attack, according to him, was the Westerners; attacking the place where there were foreigners would give them more media coverage.

Raffaello Pantucci for Australia Network News, 15 March