You are here
- Home
- Themes
Themes
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.
Browse Themes
- Aerospace
- Civil–Military Relations
- Coronavirus
- AML/CTF
- Brexit
- Art, Culture and Literature
- Counterinsurgency
- Defence Management
- Defence Policy
- Domestic Security
- Global Security Issues
- Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
- History
- Information
- Intelligence
- International Institutions
- Land Forces
- Law and Ethics
- Maritime Forces
- Military Personnel
- National Security
- Organised Crime
- Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding
- Resilience
- Technology
- Terrorism
- UK Defence
Browse Regions

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
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
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
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
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
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
Time for a New UK–US Relationship
Commentary, 19 January 2021Peter Roberts
With the arrival of each new US president, the incumbent UK prime minster hopes to revitalise the UK–US ‘special relationship’ in defence and security. It has largely been missing in action since the...
United States, UK
The Future of UK–EU Security Cooperation
Commentary, 18 January 2021Julian King and John Scarlett
The agreement governing future relations between the UK and the EU has addressed only some of the serious questions about future security cooperation. Many challenges lie ahead, and goodwill, as well...
Brexit, UK, National Security, Europe
Underwater Drone Incidents Point to China’s Expanding Intelligence Gathering
Commentary, 15 January 2021H I Sutton
China’s apparent efforts to survey within other country’s territorial waters may go unchallenged.
China, Intelligence
The UK Should Align with Biden in the Indo-Pacific
Commentary, 14 January 2021David Hutt
Having failed to beat the EU to the Indo-Pacific, and with US–EU relations less than ideal ahead of Joe Biden’s inauguration this month, the UK could carve out a niche in Asia by aligning with US...
United States, UK
The UK and Afghanistan: Raising Our Voice
Commentary, 13 January 2021Joyce Anelay
The House of Lords International Relations and Defence Committee, which I chair, has just published its report, ‘The UK and Afghanistan’. Here are its main findings.
Afghanistan, UK
Does the Pandemic Tell Us Anything About War Casualties?
Commentary, 12 January 2021Tim Willasey-Wilsey
It has become commonplace to suggest that British people today would not accept the levels of casualties suffered on the Western Front during the First World War. In Afghanistan the loss of 454...
Coronavirus, The Great War, UK
The UK’s New Nuclear Warhead: Issues for Parliament
Commentary, 11 January 2021Matthew Harries
The UK’s replacement nuclear warhead programme needs better scrutiny. Here’s what Parliament could do.
Proliferation and Nuclear Policy, UK, Proliferation and Nuclear Policy
Are the UK and India Finally Getting Serious About Each Other?
Commentary, 8 January 2021Walter Ladwig
The UK and India are getting closer. But some of the key building blocks of the relationship still need to be laid.
India, UKPages

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...
Tags: Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
Adversarial Studies: Russian Strategic Thinking and the Kremlin’s Approach to Coercion
Multimedia, 19 January 2021In this seminar, Dr Michael Kofman charts the evolution of Russian strategic thinking over the past few decades, explaining how concepts of integrated deterrence and escalation management shape the...
Tags: Adversarial Studies, Military Sciences
Season Three Trailer: Policy Into Practice
Multimedia, 18 January 2021Isabella Chase and Tom Keatinge, two of your hosts for this season, discuss the thinking behind the ‘Policy into Practice’ concept and give listeners a glimpse of what’s in store – from the array of...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
Episode 2: Sir David Lidington on his Life in British Politics
Multimedia, 8 January 2021In this episode, Karin talks to the new Chair of the Institute, the Rt. Hon Sir David Lidington, KCB, CBE. Sir David discusses his career from the early days as a special adviser to eventually...
Tags: National Security
Episode Nine: Kleptopia: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World
Multimedia, 8 January 2021Dirty money is flooding the global economy, emboldening dictators and poisoning democracies. Journalist Tom Burgis unveils the stories that form his book Kleptopia. Alexandra Wrage, president and...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Counterproliferation Finance: 2021 Agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Wojciech Pawlus, Outreach and Implementation Coordinator at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, talks what’s in store for our counter proliferation work in 2021.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Free Trade Zones, New Tech and Financial Crime: 2021 agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Anton Moiseienko, Research Fellow at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, talks about his research agenda for 2021 on free trade zones, new tech and financial crime.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Policy and Implementation: 2021 Agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Tom Keatinge, Director of RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, talks about what’s in store for the Centre in 2021.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Crypto, New Tech and Financial Crime: 2021 agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Kayla Izenman, Research Analyst at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, gives a glimpse of what she’ll be focusing on in 2021, looking at crypto, new tech and financial crime.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
UK Economic Crime: 2021 Agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Jonathan van der Valk, Research Analyst at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, gives a glimpse of what he’ll be focusing on in 2021.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTFPages

Good Practice for the Development of Autonomous Weapons: Ensuring the Art of the Acceptable, Not the Art of the Possible
RUSI Journal, 21 January 2021Tony Gillespie
Highly autonomous weapon systems require new approaches to all stages of procurement and use to ensure compliance with international law.
Tags: Law and Ethics, Technology
NATO and the Arctic: The Need for a New Approach
RUSI Journal, 21 January 2021Duncan Depledge
NATO needs to review its traditionally cautious approach to the Arctic.
Tags: NATO
The SCRI and Strategic Advantage for the UK in the Indo-Pacific
RUSI Newsbrief, 15 January 2021Jagannath Panda
As the UK considers an engagement strategy with the Indo-Pacific after Brexit, the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative offers a chance to build a free-trade bloc amongst ‘like-minded nations’ and deepen strategic ties in the region.
Tags: China, Japan, India, UK, Pacific
The Long Trail of British China Policy
RUSI Newsbrief, 7 January 2021Oliver Yule-Smith
Realising a new approach to Beijing following the Integrated Review will require policymakers to acknowledge the significant historical baggage that comes with policy design in this area. Avoiding these pitfalls will be integral to ensuring a clear-eyed strategy for China.
Tags: China, UK
Resistance and Information Warfare in Mosul and Raqqa: In Darkness, Light
RUSI Journal, 22 December 2020Mike Stevens
Information warfare against the Islamic State made extensive use of two-way communication channels between those inside and outside the occupied cities.
Tags: Iraq, Information
Regaining the Initiative: Can the US Lead Again?
RUSI Newsbrief, 18 December 2020Frank Hoffman
Restoring US leadership in global affairs will require a number of strategic shifts to change the trajectory set by the Trump administration. These substantial choices have to be made quickly by the new Biden team, which faces daunting domestic and political obstacles to its more internationalist approach.
Tags: United States, US Defence Policy
Trouble in Tigray: Worrying Ripples from Ethiopia’s Latest Conflict
RUSI Newsbrief, 11 December 2020Michael Jones
The unfolding conflict in Tigray could mark a dangerous inflection point for both Ethiopia and the wider region.
Tags: Horn of Africa, African Union, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, Africa
From Multirole to Modularity
RUSI Defence Systems, 10 December 2020Jack Watling
Three decades of low-intensity warfare has led to the development of numerous exquisite platforms, bristling with capability, but their cost makes them scarce, and consequently vulnerable. Generating mass and resilience requires federating capabilities.
Tags:
Public Communications Leadership: #CrisisComms and the Manchester Arena Attack
RUSI Journal, 9 December 2020Jill S Russell and Pablo de Orellana
Greater Manchester Police's communications strategy is an example of how to respond in the aftermath of an attack.
Tags: UK Counter-terrorism, Tackling Extremism, UK, Emergency Response, Terrorism
Book Review: The Dragons and the Snakes: How the Rest Learned to Fight the West
RUSI Journal, 8 December 2020Andrew Rathmell
Andrew Rathmell reviews The Dragons and the Snakes: How the West Learned to Fight the Rest, by David Kilcullen.
Tags: China, United States, Defence Policy, Global Security Issues, EuropePages

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