Editor's Note: RUSI Journal, April/May 2018

Emma De Angelis

Editor Dr Emma De Angelis introduces the April/May 2018 edition of the RUSI Journal.

A Commentary on H C Colles’s ‘The Red Cross in the War.’

Tom Plant

A Commentary on H C Colles’s ‘The Red Cross in the War.’

A Fourth F-35 Variant?

Andrew Hartland

With an inherently high thrust-to-weight ratio and modified digital flight control system, an F-35 variant could operate off the Queen Elizabeth class carriers with fewer penalties to the baseline F-35A design than the current F-35B and hence fewer performance trade-offs

The Rise of the Chemical Weapon State: From Salisbury to Syria

Ryan Henrici

The recent execution of chemical attacks by Moscow, Damascus and Pyongyang for diverse purposes may not only suggest that the prohibitive power of international conventions is now fading away, but also signals the emergence of a new class of states who can deploy a credible chemical threat.

Counter-UAS – a ‘Wicked’ Problem?

Adam Coffey

Finding, striking, jamming, blocking, sustaining, and generally being disruptive, are all now realistic outputs from UAS. Given these multiple potential and proven uses for UAS even by non-state actors, the military conversation has very much moved on to how to counter them.

Positional Warfare A Paradigm for Understanding Twenty-First-Century Conflict

Siddarth Kaushal

Contemporary war is not characterised by radical change, but to a return to the eighteenth-century paradigm of positional warfare.

Global Allies: Comparing US Alliances in the 21st Century

Lavina Lee

Lavina Lee reviews Global Allies: Comparing US Alliances in the 21st Century, by Michael Wesley.

RUSI Newsbrief Vol. 38, No. 4

This issue of Newsbrief includes articles on the migration of Daesh's leaders to Afghanistan, the 2018 NATO Summit being held in Brussels in July, what to expect in Ukrainian politics over the next twelve months, and Bulgaria's approach to the standoff between Russia and the West.

Marauding Terrorist Firearms’ Attacks: A Practitioner’s View of the UK’s Emergency Service Initial Response Arrangements to Deal with an Active Shooter

Dave Graham

Improvement is needed to the UK’s emergency services’s plans to respond to marauding terrorist firearms’ attacks.

Nord Stream II: The Battle Lines Have Been Drawn

Alex Maciag

Increasing tension over Nord Stream II puts the spotlight on a West that still lacks unity or a clear policy towards Russia. The divisions over the project are adding to bitterness within the EU and the transatlantic relationship, and benefiting Moscow.