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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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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
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
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
Preparedness, Procurement and Defence Governance in Central and Eastern Europe
Commentary, 17 December 2020Natalie Hogg
Transparency International’s Government Defence Integrity Index for Central and Eastern Europe suggests slippage in defence governance standards across the region.
Defence Management, Information, Europe
Mandates and Mali: The Challenge of Directing UN Peacekeeping
Commentary, 17 December 2020Ewan Lawson
The mandate of the UN operation in Mali to which the UK is currently contributing is suffering from handicaps which have been known for many years, but have yet to be addressed.
United Nations, UK, Peacekeeping and Peacebuilding, Africa
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, SudanPages
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 Six: FATF’s Strategic Review
Multimedia, 27 November 2020The Financial Action Task Force has undoubtedly raised financial crime compliance standards around the world, but money laundering remains a present and growing issue. CFCS’s Isabella Chase is...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
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 Studies
People as the Decisive Advantage
Multimedia, 26 November 2020Some capabilities are fundamental to military activities, but strategic capabilities tend to be valuable, rare, and inimitable. That means they tend to be human, not technical. HR guru Professor...
Tags: Military Sciences
Forceful Persuasion: The Psychology of Convincing an Opponent They Are Beaten
Multimedia, 25 November 2020Tags: Adversarial Studies, Military Sciences
Western Way of War: HYPErsonics?
Multimedia, 19 November 2020Great powers are pressing ahead with hypersonic weapons, yet in adoption and adaptation there seems to be a missing foundational understanding of what the arrival of Mach 10 precision munitions means...
Tags: Military Sciences
ASEAN’s Outlook: Maintaining Centrality in the Indo-Pacific
Multimedia, 18 November 2020This week, Veerle is joined by Dr. Evan Laksmana, senior researcher at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Dr. Huong Le Thu, senior analyst at the...
Tags: Bridging the Oceans Podcast Series, China, International Security Studies, Navigating the Indo-Pacific, Japan, India, Maritime Forces, Pacific, Central and South Asia
Western Way of War: When Did Everything Become Securitised?
Multimedia, 12 November 2020Alice Billon-Galland explains to Peter Roberts what a forward-looking reflective exercise is for NATO and what this issues are between the Atlantic Alliance and the EU. They get into why patchwork...
Tags: Military Sciences
Episode four: Corruption and Finance in the UK
Multimedia, 12 November 2020The UK regularly finds itself at the centre of money laundering and corruption scandals. But how dire is the situation, really, and is there any hope for change? Author Oliver Bullough does a reality...
Tags: Centre for Financial Crime and Security Studies
Western Way of War: Utility vs Utilisation
Multimedia, 5 November 2020Given the discussion of 'sunset' capabilities and the growing feeling in Brussels that the UK has a credibility problem inside NATO, Peter talks to Mungo Melvin (military historian and former soldier...
Tags: Military SciencesPages
Space as an Operational Domain: What Next for NATO?
RUSI Newsbrief, 15 October 2020Alexandra Stickings
NATO has declared space to be an operational domain. Questions must be addressed to understand what this means for future strategy and capabilities.
Tags: NATO
Are the Baltics Really Undefendable?
RUSI Newsbrief, 9 October 2020Sandor Fabian
This article proposes that ‘professional irregular’ forces would provide the Baltics with the best defence against Russian aggression.
Tags: NATO, Russia, Defence Policy, Europe
The Key to Armenia’s Tank Losses: The Sensors, Not the Shooters
RUSI Defence Systems, 6 October 2020Jack Watling
Amid a lively debate about the viability of the UK’s heavy armour, the loss of over 42 Armenian T-72s to Azerbaijani forces in Nagorno-Karabakh requires further analysis.
Tags: Land Forces
Strategic Culture: In Defiance of a Structural World Order
RUSI Journal, 6 October 2020Patrick Hinton
Strategic culture theory provides much-needed nuance to contemporary fears over the decline of the rules-based international system.
Tags: Global Security Issues, International Institutions
Multi-Domain Operations and Lessons from NSC 68 in the Competitive Space: A Framework for NATO and Western Democracies for Defence Against Russia
RUSI Journal, 5 October 2020Tyler Wesley
A Cold War-era document provides a useful guide for a published framework for engaging Russia today.
Tags: Defence Policy
United Russia’s Image Problem: Revamping the ‘Nasty Party’ Before 2021
RUSI Newsbrief, 2 October 2020Emily Ferris
Russia’s September regional elections were a litmus test of United Russia’s support. While most seats were secure, it seems likely the party is headed for a ‘rebrand’, ahead of the State Duma elections in 2021.
Tags: Russia
What Will an Indo-Pacific Supply Chain Resilience Initiative Mean for China?
RUSI Newsbrief, 25 September 2020Jagannath Panda
The emergence of alternative global supply chains could hurt China’s economic influence. Beijing must dial down its ‘charm offensive’ economic policies to remain an attractive trade partner.
Tags: China, Japan, India, Global Security Issues, Pacific
New Intelligence Strategies for a New Decade
RUSI Journal, 23 September 2020Patrick Bury and Michael Chertoff
Intelligence agencies need to develop their strategic intelligence capabilities.
Tags: Intelligence
More Than Just Business: The Political Context of the UK–China Commercial Relationship
RUSI Newsbrief, 11 September 2020Andrew Cainey and Veerle Nouwens
As the UK formulates its post-Brexit relationship with China, one key policy question is how to develop the bilateral commercial relationship most effectively. This requires not just an understanding of the business opportunities, but also of the political and foreign policy backdrop to UK–China relations.
Tags: China, UK
A Return to Combat Mass? Modern LIFT/LCA Platforms to Complement the Fighter Fleet
RUSI Defence Systems, 9 September 2020Edward Hunt
The acquisition of combat-capable lead-in fighter trainer/light combat aircraft types to complement traditional fast jet types across less demanding mission sets offers a potential route towards regenerating practical combat mass for medium-sized air forces.
Tags: AerospacePages
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