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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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Financing Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism
Multimedia, 5 March 2021Following the recent wave of attacks by far-right extremists around the world, the task of throttling the financing of right-wing terrorism and extremism has seldom been more pressing. The CFCS’s...
Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Diversity in the UK's Intelligence Agencies
Commentary, 5 March 2021Daniel Lomas
The UK’s intelligence agencies have been criticised for not reflecting the ‘makeup of modern Britain’. But significant improvements have been made.
UK, Intelligence

Seven Reasons Why the US Needs to Re-Engage with Turkey
Article, 5 March 2021Taras Kuzio
The election of President Joe Biden presents a strategic opportunity for the US to resume playing a more active role in the South Caucasus, Eurasia and the greater Middle East – if Washington and...
Turkey, United States, RUSI Newsbrief
New UK Government Initiative to Support High-Risk, High-Reward Military Science Needs Refinement
Commentary, 4 March 2021Trevor Taylor and Rebecca Lucas
The initiative is clearly inspired by the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, but the devil will be in the detail.
Defence, Industries and Society, Defence Spending, UK, Technology
Georgia Wins a Legal War Against Russia
Commentary, 5 February 2021Natia Seskuria
Following a 12-year legal battle, the European Court of Human Rights recently ruled in a landmark case, finding Russia responsible for major human rights violations during the 2008 war against...
Russia, Georgia
The UK and the CPTTP: Creating an Asian Option for the Future
Commentary, 4 February 2021Andrew Cainey
The UK’s application to join a free trade arrangement based around the Pacific Rim may result in a fundamental reorientation of the country’s global posture.
UK Integrated Review 2021, UK, Pacific
Getting the Band Back Together: The UK and the 2021 G7 Summit
Commentary, 3 February 2021Malcolm Chalmers
The G7 summit this year is a key opportunity to reassert the importance of Western unity in international affairs. Here is an outline of how this could be done.
UK
Myanmar's Military Coup: International Reactions
Commentary, 2 February 2021Aaditya Dave and Veerle Nouwens
The UN Security Council is meeting today to discuss the military coup in Myanmar. There is plenty of condemnation from Western countries, but more nuanced reactions from Myanmar’s immediate...
International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Pacific
Far-Right Extremism in the US: A Threat No Longer Ignored
Commentary, 1 February 2021Jessica White
The events at the US Capitol in Washington D.C. on 6 January have jolted the US national security system into action and forced an acknowledgement of the dangers posed by far-right extremism.
Terrorism and Conflict, United States, National Security
Jordan After Trump: Between Hope and Uncertainty in the Middle East
Commentary, 29 January 2021Tobias Borck
As US President Joe Biden assumes office, many governments in the Middle East are looking to Washington to see what the change in the White House will mean for them.
United States, Americas, Middle East and North Africa
The US Navy’s Large Surface Combatant Programme: A Project in Search of a Clear Rationale
Commentary, 28 January 2021Sidharth Kaushal
The US Navy needs to demonstrate that its mammoth investment in large surface combatants has a manifest purpose.
Military Sciences, United States, US Defence Policy, Maritime Forces
Poland’s Decisive Role in Cracking Enigma and Transforming the UK’s SIGINT Operations
Commentary, 27 January 2021Tony Comer
Enigma was broken at Bletchley Park because of the Polish decision in 1939 to share all they knew. That led to a radical transformation of British signals intelligence.
UK, History, Intelligence
Against the Clock: Can the EU’s New Strategy for Terrorist Content Removal Work?
Commentary, 26 January 2021Claudia Wallner
The European Commission’s proposed plan to take down online terrorist content within an hour of publication seems limited in its effectiveness and risks ignoring other aspects of extremist activities...
Terrorism and Conflict, Technology, Terrorism, Europe
Yemen: Engaging, Not Isolating
Commentary, 25 January 2021Simona Ross and Stefan Wolff
Five years of war in Yemen have caused one of today’s worst man-made humanitarian crises. To resolve the conflict the Biden administration will have to grasp the nettle of subnational governance...
United States, Unpacking the MENA, Middle East and North AfricaPages

Episode Ten: Counter Terrorism Financing: Does the Current Global Approach Work?
Multimedia, 22 January 2021Twenty years on from the 9/11 attacks, has the global response to terrorist financing adapted alongside the evolving risk landscape? The CFCS’s Tom Keatinge is joined by Rachel Love from Standard...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Is the West Developing Innovation Fatigue?
Multimedia, 21 January 2021Acknowledging the power of innovation as a driver for building a competitive edge in warfare, new defence policies in the UK and US since 2015 began elevating military innovation as the chief...
Tags: Military Sciences
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 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
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
Project CRAAFT: 2021 Agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Kinga Redlowska, Project Manager at RUSI Europe talks what’s in store for Project CRAAFT in 2021.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTF
Sanctions and CPF: 2021 Agenda at RUSI's Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies
Multimedia, 5 January 2021Sasha Erskine, Research Analyst at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, gives a glimpse of what she’ll be focusing on in 2021 in terms of sanctions and CPF.
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 2021Helena Wood, Associate Fellow at RUSI’s Centre for Financial Crime & Security Studies, talks about her research agenda for 2021.
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies, AML/CTFPages

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
Sustainment Is the Division’s Hardest Responsibility
RUSI Defence Systems, 13 January 2021Jack Watling
The proliferation of ISR and precision fires make resupply of combat brigades an increasingly complex and dangerous task for which legacy tactics are ill suited and in need of revision.
Tags: Land Forces
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
Assistance to Locally Appropriate Military Forces in Southern Somalia: Bypassing Mogadishu for Local Legitimacy
RUSI Journal, 8 December 2020Colin D Robinson and Jahara Matisek
Better outcomes might be achieved by supporting local forces.
Tags: Horn of Africa, Counterinsurgency, Defence Policy, Africa
Fighters in the Blood: The Story of a Spitfire Pilot and the Son Who Followed in His Footsteps
RUSI Journal, 8 December 2020Justin Bronk
Justin Bronk reviews Fighters in the Blood: The Story of a Spitfire Pilot and the Son Who Followed in His Footsteps, by Air Marshal ‘Black’ Robertson.
Tags: Aerospace, UK, HistoryPages

Precision Strike in 21st Century Multidomain Operations
Conference, 13 May 2021The conduct of 21st century campaigns will be shaped in large measure by opponents’ use of reconnaissance strike complexes to achieve effects in depth. This conference will seek to examine both the...

Strategic Command Conference: Sharpening the UK Defence’s Edge in the 2020s
Events, 21 April 2021Held against the backdrop of the substantial financial settlement for Defence but also a deteriorating security situation and the broader impact of the pandemic, the UK Strategic Command Conference...

Future War and the Defence of Europe
Events, 1 April 2021A conversation with General John Allen, Lieutenant General Ben Hodges and Professor Dr Julian Lindley-French, to launch their latest book entitled ‘Future War and the Defence of Europe’.

UK PONI Workshop: Introduction to Nuclear Weapons Policy
Events, 25 March 2021UK Project on Nuclear Issues will host an introductory workshop covering the basics of nuclear weapons policy for early career professionals. The event will take place online over two half-days.

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...
Diversity in the UK's Intelligence Agencies
Financing Right-Wing Extremism and Terrorism
New UK Government Initiative to Support High-Risk, High-Reward Military Science Needs Refinement