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RUSI covers a broad range of areas affecting defence and international security around the world. See here RUSI commentary, reports, events and videos organised by theme and region. Scroll below for the latest content.
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Good Practice for the Development of Autonomous Weapons: Ensuring the Art of the Acceptable, Not the Art of the Possible
Article, 21 January 2021Tony Gillespie
Highly autonomous weapon systems require new approaches to all stages of procurement and use to ensure compliance with international law.
RUSI Journal, Law and Ethics, Technology
Of Some Benefit: US Corporate Transparency Inches Forward
Commentary, 21 January 2021Tom Keatinge
The fêting of new company registration requirements in the US is understandable, but critical gaps remain.
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, United States, AML/CTF
NATO and the Arctic: The Need for a New Approach
Article, 21 January 2021Duncan Depledge
NATO needs to review its traditionally cautious approach to the Arctic.
RUSI Journal, NATO
Trump, Biden, and the Indo-Pacific
Multimedia, 20 January 2021After the inauguration of President-elect Biden, this episode both takes a retrospective look at what worked and what didn’t in the Trump Administration’s approach to the Indo-Pacific, and examines...
Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
The Biden Presidency: The Benefits of Being Boring
Commentary, 20 January 2021Karin von Hippel
As Joe Biden takes the oath of office today as the 46th President of the US, RUSI’s Director-General reflects on the challenges and opportunities facing his administration.
United States
Key Middle East Influencers on US Iran Policy and the Implications for the UK
Commentary, 16 December 2020Sanam Vakil
Israel, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Iraq will be looking to influence the Biden administration’s Iran policy. Maintaining access to and engagement with these influencers will be important for the UK’s...
Iran's Nuclear Programme, Iranian Nuclear Pathways, United States, Iran, Iraq, UK, Israel
Get Serious: Illicit Finance is a Threat to the US–UK Special Relationship
Commentary, 15 December 2020Tom Keatinge
As President-elect Joe Biden commits to tackling illicit finance, Boris Johnson’s lack of leadership on the matter risks being embarrassingly revealed.
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, United States, AML/CTF, UK, Global Security Issues
Unpacking the UK’s Newly Announced Centre on Artificial Intelligence
Commentary, 14 December 2020Trevor Taylor
The UK’s newly announced defence centre on artificial intelligence is still a vision, in search of a role.
Cyber, Defence, Industries and Society, UK Integrated Review 2021, UK, Technology, UK Defence
The Latecomer: Germany's Debate on Armed Drones
Commentary, 11 December 2020Lydia Wachs
Only days before an expected decision by the German parliament on arming Germany’s drones, the drone debate is polarising national politics.
Aerospace, Germany, Technology
Countering Chinese Influence in Central and Eastern Europe: An Exclusively Regional Approach Is Not the Answer
Commentary, 10 December 2020Łukasz Janulewicz
Plans by Joe Biden’s incoming US presidential team to use one European regional cooperation structure as a counterpoint to China’s growing influence are unlikely to prove very effective.
China, United States, Europe
The Biden Administration and the Future of US–India Ties
Commentary, 9 December 2020Aaditya Dave
Mutual concerns around China’s assertiveness, as well as economic and diaspora ties, will sustain the positive trajectory of the US–India relationship.
China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, United States, India
US Weapons Sales to Taiwan: Upholding the Porcupine Strategy
Commentary, 8 December 2020Sidharth Kaushal
It is not the size but the composition of the latest package of US arms sales to Taiwan that is noteworthy.
China, Military Sciences, United States, US Defence Policy, Maritime Forces, Pacific
Russia’s Port Sudan Naval Base: A Power Play on the Red Sea
Commentary, 7 December 2020Samuel Ramani
Russia is planning to expand its naval power projection on the Red Sea.
Russia, Sudan
‘Who Let the Dogs Out’: The Czech Intelligence Service Annual Report and the Challenges of Discussing Threats in a Postfactual Age
Commentary, 4 December 2020Ondrej Ditrych
The Czech domestic intelligence service details the threats to which the Central European country is exposed. It shows the broader challenges of talking about threats as mistrust in established...
Information, Intelligence, Resilience, Europe
Two Steps Forward, One Step Back: The Limits of New Standards on Assessing WMD Financing Risk
Commentary, 3 December 2020Darya Dolzikova and Emil Dall
The Financial Action Task Force now requires countries to assess proliferation financing risk, a welcome step in global efforts to counter sanctions evasion by actors such as North Korea. However,...
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, Counter-Proliferation Finance, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, Proliferation and Nuclear PolicyPages
Episode Eight: Freeports in the UK
Multimedia, 18 December 2020In February 2020, the UK government launched a consultation on its plans to establish up to 10 freeports in the UK. Alexandria Reid is joined by Richard Ballantyne from the British Ports Association...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Electronic Warfare and Cumulative Risk
Multimedia, 17 December 2020Above all other competitors, Russia is the pre-eminent authority in Electronic Warfare. The US military is trying to catch up with their generational deficit in this domain but there is little sign...
Tags: Military Sciences
Europe Turns to the Indo-Pacific
Multimedia, 16 December 2020Germany, France, and The Netherlands have published Indo-Pacific Strategies. The United Kingdom speaks of a strategic tilt to the region. But what does all this mean in practice?
Tags: Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
Episode Seven: Unexplained Wealth Orders: Where to Next
Multimedia, 11 December 20202020 was a roller coaster for Unexplained Wealth Orders in the UK! CFCS’s Anton Moiseienko takes stock of the setbacks and the triumphs with barristers Anita Clifford and James Mather and Alun...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Sir Mark Rowley on Policing
Multimedia, 11 December 2020Welcome back to Season Two of our 'In Context' podcast. In this episode, Karin talks to RUSI Distinguished Fellow Sir Mark Rowley QPM. Sir Mark discusses his incredible career in the police force and...
Tags: National Security
Soothsaying, Prophecy and Luck
Multimedia, 10 December 2020Historically, the British have been averse to funding a standing army, and perhaps that feeling endures today, in the belief that it is possible to raise and train an army to meet any threat in a...
Tags: Military Sciences
Season Two: Festive Special
Multimedia, 9 December 20202020 – never a dull moment in financial crime! In this special end-of-year episode, CFCS’s Isabella Chase and RUSI colleagues Kayla Izenman, Emil Dall and Anton Moiseienko unpack the financial crime...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
The Paradox Facing Navies
Multimedia, 3 December 2020Peter Roberts talks to Dr Sidharth Kaushal about naval warfare and capital ships in the era of Great Power Competition. Dr Kaushal describes a new form of strategic raiding, the historical precedence...
Tags: Military Sciences
Australia’s Indo-Pacific Approach: Principles and Partnerships
Multimedia, 2 December 2020This week, Veerle is joined by Professor Rory Medcalf, Head of the National Security College at the Australian National University and internationally-recognised thought leader for his work on the...
Tags: Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
Episode Five: New Technologies, Old Methods in Terrorism Financing
Multimedia, 27 November 2020Terrorists of all types exploit technology to raise, use and move funds. CFCS’s Stephen Reimer speaks with security consultant and former Canadian intelligence analyst Jessica Davis about terrorists...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security StudiesPages
Overhyped Hypersonics? Examining the US Navy’s Prompt Strike Ambitions
RUSI Defence Systems, 25 November 2020Sidharth Kaushal
The recent announcement that all US Navy Arleigh Burke-class destroyers will carry hypersonic weapons for conventional prompt strike missions raises important questions regarding both the CONOPS guiding conventional prompt strike and the specific value of hypersonics for this mission set
Tags: Maritime Forces
Pakistan: What a New Kashmir Policy Might Look Like
RUSI Newsbrief, 20 November 2020Tim Willasey-Wilsey
Pakistan pays a heavy price for its claim to Kashmir: higher military spending, domestic instability, and exclusion from Indian markets and the transit trade with Central Asia. A more coherent Kashmir policy could be constructed at much reduced cost based on achievable objectives, a sober view of the national interest and the long-term needs of the Kashmiri people.
Tags: Pakistan, India
Investigating the Information Commissioner’s Office: Is It Fit for Purpose?
RUSI Newsbrief, 13 November 2020Anjuli Shere and Miranda Melcher
The power and independence of the Information Commissioner’s Office appear to have been overstated. Downing Street has built-in oversight of funds and coronavirus data is not being protected.
Tags: Coronavirus, UK, Information
Assessing the Options for Modernising the UK’s Heavy Armour
RUSI Newsbrief, 6 November 2020Jack Watling and Nick Reynolds
The UK has two options for modernising its armour: developing a Challenger 3 or procuring Leopard 2. The latter is an assured capability that will likely prove cheaper over the life of the programme. The former is risky but offers the UK an opportunity to develop valuable intellectual property.
Tags: Equipment and Acquisitions, UK
Moving from Gender Analysis to Risk Analysis of Failing to Consider Gender
RUSI Journal, 5 November 2020Jody M Prescott
Militaries are used to thinking about how military operations have a gendered impact. They might need to start thinking about how not considering gender impacts military operations.
Tags: Military Personnel, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
A Perfect Storm? Coronavirus, Brexit, the Integrated Review, Scottish Separatism and the Future of Trident
RUSI Journal, 5 November 2020Andrew Futter and Bleddyn E Bowen
A cocktail of major events might have serious implications for the UK's nuclear deterrent.
Tags: Trident, UK, UK Defence
Missiles, Vessels and Active Defence: What Potential Threat Do the Russian Armed Forces Represent?
RUSI Journal, 5 November 2020Maren Garberg Bredesen and Karsten Friis
Russia's strategy is increasingly focusing on its naval capabilities.
Tags: Russia, Maritime Forces
From the Deep State to the Main Stage: The IRGC and Iran’s 2021 Presidential Elections
RUSI Newsbrief, 30 October 2020Kasra Aarabi
Hossein Dehghan, an Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps heavyweight with strong ties to Hizbullah, has announced his candidacy for Iran’s 2021 elections. What would his presidency mean for Iran’s policies at home and abroad?
Tags: Iran
Avoiding the Reign of Artificial Stupidity
RUSI Defence Systems, 27 October 2020Jack Watling
Artificial intelligence in war may be a good servant, but it is likely to prove a terrible master, for while the character of stupidity may evolve, its nature remains immutable
Tags:
The UK and Illicit Finance: Still Part of the Problem, Not Part of the Solution
RUSI Newsbrief, 23 October 2020Tom Keatinge
The UK has lost its global leadership of the fight against illicit finance. The Johnson government must get the UK back on track.
Tags: UKPages
Combat Air Power 2021: Competing Visions for the Future
Conference, 24 March 2021Evolving peer threats, new budgetary pressures and national industrial imperatives are fuelling fierce competition. This online conference will examine the key next-generation combat air approaches...
Russians Among Us: Sleeper Cells, Ghost Stories and the Hunt for Putin’s Agents
Events, 10 March 2021Gordon Corera, Security Correspondent, BBC, will discuss his latest book, ‘Russians Among Us’, and the incredible lengths the Putin regime has gone to in entrenching its operatives in the West.
Winning Without Victories? Navigating Indecisiveness in Endless Wars
Events, 3 March 2021Join us in March 2021 for the annual event organised by Ecole de Guerre and RUSI
Sea Power Virtual Conference 2021: Transforming Maritime Forces For an Age of Persistent Competition
Events, 25 February 2021This conference will seek to examine the ways in which naval force structures, postures and concepts of operations will need to adjust to a strategic context in which the husbanding forces for high-...
Goodbye Britannia: The UK Challenged by Brexit
Events, 23 February 2021Ambassador Sylvie Bermann, RUSI Trustee and former French Ambassador to the UK, will discuss her latest book, ‘Goodbye Britannia’, with Sir John Scarlett KCMG OBE, RUSI Vice-Chair and former Chief of...
Of Some Benefit: US Corporate Transparency Inches Forward
The Biden Presidency: The Benefits of Being Boring
Time for a New UK–US Relationship