RUSI
@rusi.bsky.social
Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies. Founded in 1831, RUSI is the oldest defence and security think tank in the world.
Website 💻: https://rusi.org/
WhatsApp 📱: https://bit.ly/4h0M5FQ
Website 💻: https://rusi.org/
WhatsApp 📱: https://bit.ly/4h0M5FQ
Pinned
RUSI
@rusi.bsky.social
· Nov 26
For the latest analysis on defence, security and international affairs, here is a list of RUSI staff members to follow on BlueSky (will be updated regularly as user base expands).
'Russia wants to drive a wedge between Poland and Ukraine, deepen the already extreme political polarisation in Poland, and empower domestic forces hostile to the European Union' writes Sławomir Sierakowski.
Is Russia's Hybrid War on Europe Becoming Conventional?
From arson attacks on civilian targets to the recent bombing of a rail line between Warsaw and Ukraine, Russian provocations inside Poland are intensifying. By stoking anti-Ukrainian and anti-EU sentiment, the Kremlin hopes to empower the "useful idiots...
www.rusi.org
November 27, 2025 at 5:50 PM
'Russia wants to drive a wedge between Poland and Ukraine, deepen the already extreme political polarisation in Poland, and empower domestic forces hostile to the European Union' writes Sławomir Sierakowski.
'Europe may add Octopus to its arsenal, but it needs other layers as well and, ultimately, the munitions to strike the production facilities that allow Russia to keep up such a tempo of strikes if it finds itself at war' writes Dr Jack Watling.
Octopus Adds an Additional Layer to Ukraine's Air Defences
The value of the UK-Ukrainian drone interceptor is not in the characteristics of the munition, but in the process that brought it into being.
www.rusi.org
November 27, 2025 at 5:11 PM
'Europe may add Octopus to its arsenal, but it needs other layers as well and, ultimately, the munitions to strike the production facilities that allow Russia to keep up such a tempo of strikes if it finds itself at war' writes Dr Jack Watling.
'Unless governments develop a clear vision of what such sanctions can achieve, and how they are best deployed, their image as a fearsome tool may soon fade away' write Elijah Glantz, Cathy Haenlein and Anton Moiseienko.
Disrupting Organised Crime: If You Can't Beat Them, Sanction Them?
The increased use of sanctions against organised crime necessitates a deeper evidence base on how they can best be targeted – and supported through diplomatic engagement across the range of states involved.
www.rusi.org
November 27, 2025 at 4:09 PM
'Unless governments develop a clear vision of what such sanctions can achieve, and how they are best deployed, their image as a fearsome tool may soon fade away' write Elijah Glantz, Cathy Haenlein and Anton Moiseienko.
The US-Saudi nuclear deal will have limited implications for the US nuclear sector but could have meaningful political and non-proliferation consequences for the Middle East, writes Darya Dolzikova.
The US-Saudi Nuclear Deal: Supply Chain and Non-Proliferation Implications
The US-Saudi nuclear deal will have limited implications for the US nuclear sector but could have meaningful political and non-proliferation consequences for the Middle East.
www.rusi.org
November 26, 2025 at 5:34 PM
The US-Saudi nuclear deal will have limited implications for the US nuclear sector but could have meaningful political and non-proliferation consequences for the Middle East, writes Darya Dolzikova.
🎙️The Caspian region's geopolitical landscape is shifting. Our latest Global Security Briefing episode explores how Central Asia and the South Caucasus are navigating the competing interests of Russia, China, and a newly engaged US.
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/3JXtM8R
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/3JXtM8R
November 26, 2025 at 4:05 PM
🎙️The Caspian region's geopolitical landscape is shifting. Our latest Global Security Briefing episode explores how Central Asia and the South Caucasus are navigating the competing interests of Russia, China, and a newly engaged US.
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/3JXtM8R
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/3JXtM8R
📢🧵 NEW RUSI Paper ‘Combatting Cybercrime against Mobile Devices’ by Joseph Jarnecki is out now.
Combatting Cybercrime against Mobile Devices
Joseph Jarnecki outlines the highest priority cyberthreats against consumer mobile devices and considers potential strategies to mitigate and address the threat.
www.rusi.org
November 26, 2025 at 12:46 PM
📢🧵 NEW RUSI Paper ‘Combatting Cybercrime against Mobile Devices’ by Joseph Jarnecki is out now.
Drug traffickers are constantly innovating to increase profitability and lower operational risk. Their experimentation with uncrewed semi-submersible technology presents a predicament for counternarcotics strategies centred on deterrence.
Uncrewed and Under the Radar: How AUVs Transform Drug Smuggling
Drug traffickers are constantly innovating to increase profitability and lower operational risk. Their experimentation with uncrewed semi-submersible technology presents a predicament for counternarcotics strategies centred on deterrence.
www.rusi.org
November 25, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Drug traffickers are constantly innovating to increase profitability and lower operational risk. Their experimentation with uncrewed semi-submersible technology presents a predicament for counternarcotics strategies centred on deterrence.
'Unlike Chamberlain, who may have bought just enough time for Britain to prepare adequately to stave off Hitler’s war machine, there appears no such logic driving Trump. His mercantilism flies in the face of the human cost of this war' writes Dr Greg Mills.
Peace in Ukraine – In Our Time?
President Donald Trump’s 28-point peace plan for Ukraine could have been written less by a well-meaning Chamberlain than Vladimir Putin himself. But progress in talks in Geneva and the European re-wri...
www.rusi.org
November 24, 2025 at 4:54 PM
'Unlike Chamberlain, who may have bought just enough time for Britain to prepare adequately to stave off Hitler’s war machine, there appears no such logic driving Trump. His mercantilism flies in the face of the human cost of this war' writes Dr Greg Mills.
📺In the latest RUSI Video Commentary, Research Fellow Dan Marks examines the challenges facing COP in a fractious, multipolar world. As global security concerns rise, can this 1990s model of climate diplomacy adapt? Full video here: https://bit.ly/3XKC8DJ
November 24, 2025 at 3:46 PM
📺In the latest RUSI Video Commentary, Research Fellow Dan Marks examines the challenges facing COP in a fractious, multipolar world. As global security concerns rise, can this 1990s model of climate diplomacy adapt? Full video here: https://bit.ly/3XKC8DJ
#HIRING
Join us in shaping the future of global finance!
Join the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI! We're looking for a Research Fellow to lead our high-impact portfolio and drive new research into the UK and global response to financial crime: https://bit.ly/4odf9fA
Join us in shaping the future of global finance!
Join the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI! We're looking for a Research Fellow to lead our high-impact portfolio and drive new research into the UK and global response to financial crime: https://bit.ly/4odf9fA
November 21, 2025 at 3:55 PM
#HIRING
Join us in shaping the future of global finance!
Join the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI! We're looking for a Research Fellow to lead our high-impact portfolio and drive new research into the UK and global response to financial crime: https://bit.ly/4odf9fA
Join us in shaping the future of global finance!
Join the Centre for Finance and Security at RUSI! We're looking for a Research Fellow to lead our high-impact portfolio and drive new research into the UK and global response to financial crime: https://bit.ly/4odf9fA
'The current Labour government does make considerable use of the NSC, but has made some structural changes which have created more distance between policymakers and the intelligence agencies' writes @drceliap-v.bsky.social in latest RUSI Commentary.
Learning from Canberra: A Smarter Vision for UK Intelligence and National Security
Without adopting Canberra's policies wholesale, the UK's intelligence-policymaker network would benefit from making some of the changes Australia has implemented, particularly the designation of a principal adviser to the Prime Minister on intelligence ...
www.rusi.org
November 21, 2025 at 1:00 PM
'The current Labour government does make considerable use of the NSC, but has made some structural changes which have created more distance between policymakers and the intelligence agencies' writes @drceliap-v.bsky.social in latest RUSI Commentary.
Recent history in Afghanistan and Iraq teaches that rebuilding in active conflict zones comes with its share of hazard and futility, but it is a necessity in Gaza and Ukraine despite its uncertainty. Read the latest RUSI Commentary from Emma Isabella Sage.
The Reconstruction Trap: The Next Failure in Gaza and Ukraine?
Recent history in Afghanistan and Iraq teaches that rebuilding in active conflict zones comes with its share of hazard and futility, but it is a necessity in Gaza and Ukraine despite its uncertainty.
www.rusi.org
November 20, 2025 at 3:46 PM
Recent history in Afghanistan and Iraq teaches that rebuilding in active conflict zones comes with its share of hazard and futility, but it is a necessity in Gaza and Ukraine despite its uncertainty. Read the latest RUSI Commentary from Emma Isabella Sage.
'In an apparent triumph for Russia, however, ChatGPT – along with Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok and DeepSeek – have been giving users propaganda from Russian state media, pro-Kremlin sites and Russian intelligence sites' writes Sophie Boulter.
Humanity Will Pay the Cost of AI Becoming More Human
ChatGPT will soon remove restrictions which were put in place to minimise its more humanlike features. This is bad news for security, worsening an AI already rife with security issues including misinf...
www.rusi.org
November 19, 2025 at 7:40 PM
'In an apparent triumph for Russia, however, ChatGPT – along with Google’s Gemini, xAI’s Grok and DeepSeek – have been giving users propaganda from Russian state media, pro-Kremlin sites and Russian intelligence sites' writes Sophie Boulter.
'Without the appointment of a collaborative [Iraqi] prime minister who shares elements of Washington’s agenda, any disarmament effort [of Iran-backed armed groups] could be diluted or redirected' writes Tamer Badawi in the latest RUSI Commentary.
Iraq Elections Return Incumbents, Testing US and Iranian Influence
Iraq's elections make ponderous a status quo Washington and Tehran seek to preserve; manoeuvring politicians make work for external powers contesting the fate of Iraq's Iran-backed militia groups.
www.rusi.org
November 19, 2025 at 5:54 PM
'Without the appointment of a collaborative [Iraqi] prime minister who shares elements of Washington’s agenda, any disarmament effort [of Iran-backed armed groups] could be diluted or redirected' writes Tamer Badawi in the latest RUSI Commentary.
Join us on 15 December for the Chief of the Defence Staff Lecture, an established RUSI tradition. This year, we welcome Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton following his September appointment.
Annual CDS Lecture 2025 by Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton
Join us for the annual Chief of the Defence Staff Lecture by Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton
my.rusi.org
November 19, 2025 at 3:49 PM
Join us on 15 December for the Chief of the Defence Staff Lecture, an established RUSI tradition. This year, we welcome Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton following his September appointment.
Russia has reportedly modified its Iskander 9M723 ballistic missiles making them harder to intercept. The causes are unclear, but the impact on Ukraine is not, write Sam Cranny-Evans and Dr Sidharth Kaushal.
Iskander: An Improved Russian Missile Tests Ukraine’s Air Defence
Russia has reportedly modified its Iskander 9M723 ballistic missiles making them harder to intercept. The causes are unclear, but the impact on Ukraine is not.
bit.ly
November 18, 2025 at 6:07 PM
Russia has reportedly modified its Iskander 9M723 ballistic missiles making them harder to intercept. The causes are unclear, but the impact on Ukraine is not, write Sam Cranny-Evans and Dr Sidharth Kaushal.
#HIRING
We are seeking a Senior Research Fellow! The role will focus on Russian and Eurasian issues, delivering research projects and enhancing our profile in this critical area. Interested? Apply now or share with your network: https://bit.ly/3LOmeFJ
We are seeking a Senior Research Fellow! The role will focus on Russian and Eurasian issues, delivering research projects and enhancing our profile in this critical area. Interested? Apply now or share with your network: https://bit.ly/3LOmeFJ
November 18, 2025 at 4:45 PM
#HIRING
We are seeking a Senior Research Fellow! The role will focus on Russian and Eurasian issues, delivering research projects and enhancing our profile in this critical area. Interested? Apply now or share with your network: https://bit.ly/3LOmeFJ
We are seeking a Senior Research Fellow! The role will focus on Russian and Eurasian issues, delivering research projects and enhancing our profile in this critical area. Interested? Apply now or share with your network: https://bit.ly/3LOmeFJ
🎙️Gen. Robinson brings her military expertise to the Talking Strategy podcast, offering valuable insights that shape foreign policy and drive innovative strategic thinking.
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/4i6uUn3
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/4i6uUn3
November 18, 2025 at 3:47 PM
🎙️Gen. Robinson brings her military expertise to the Talking Strategy podcast, offering valuable insights that shape foreign policy and drive innovative strategic thinking.
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/4i6uUn3
🎧Listen here: https://bit.ly/4i6uUn3
Far from making a ‘reckless’ commitment likely to escalate tension, by checking Beijing’s hubristic tendencies, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may have done us all a favour, writes Dr Philip Shetler-Jones in the latest RUSI Commentary.
Japan’s Stance on Taiwan’s Security is Good for the Status Quo and Asian Security
Far from making a ‘reckless’ commitment likely to escalate tension, by checking Beijing’s hubristic tendencies, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may have done us all a favour.
www.rusi.org
November 17, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Far from making a ‘reckless’ commitment likely to escalate tension, by checking Beijing’s hubristic tendencies, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi may have done us all a favour, writes Dr Philip Shetler-Jones in the latest RUSI Commentary.
🎧 How are terrorist organisations raising and moving money? The latest STR podcast examines the FATF's comprehensive update on terrorist financing, questioning if current approaches are sufficiently nuanced to address evolving threats: https://bit.ly/3K2aOxC
November 14, 2025 at 4:09 PM
🎧 How are terrorist organisations raising and moving money? The latest STR podcast examines the FATF's comprehensive update on terrorist financing, questioning if current approaches are sufficiently nuanced to address evolving threats: https://bit.ly/3K2aOxC
'While it may be unrealistic to obstruct China’s national strategy, it may nevertheless be possible to delay its progression by expanding mini-lateral export control frameworks among key technology-supplying nations' writes Masashi Umehara.
Huawei's ‘Spare Tyre 2.0’ and the Limits of US Sanctions
How mini-lateral export control frameworks among key technology-supplying nations can put a slow puncture into Huawei’s ‘Spare Tyre’ of entities created to counter US sanctions.
www.rusi.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:57 PM
'While it may be unrealistic to obstruct China’s national strategy, it may nevertheless be possible to delay its progression by expanding mini-lateral export control frameworks among key technology-supplying nations' writes Masashi Umehara.
'But rare earths are different from oil; they are not geologically rare. What China monopolises is not the resource but the technology. And unlike oil, that technology is a replicable natural asset' writes Nero Huang in the latest RUSI Commentary.
Xi-Trump Pause on Rare-Earths Tariff Shields AI Bubble Temporarily
At the Xi-Trump meeting, China paused rare-earths curbs for a year and pledged to refine detailed plans, offering a cautious sip of a bitter cup ahead.
www.rusi.org
November 14, 2025 at 1:49 PM
'But rare earths are different from oil; they are not geologically rare. What China monopolises is not the resource but the technology. And unlike oil, that technology is a replicable natural asset' writes Nero Huang in the latest RUSI Commentary.
Following news of the planned abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales, RUSI's Cathy Haenlein provides her analysis. Read her full comments on our website: https://bit.ly/488Gjzj
November 13, 2025 at 6:10 PM
Following news of the planned abolition of Police and Crime Commissioners across England and Wales, RUSI's Cathy Haenlein provides her analysis. Read her full comments on our website: https://bit.ly/488Gjzj
In a visit that consolidated bilateral stability between the US and Japan, economic matters held more focus than issues of defence for President Trump, writes Daisuke Kawai in the latest RUSI Commentary.
The Trump–Takaichi Summit and Japan’s Emerging Economic Statecraft
In a visit that consolidated bilateral stability between the US and Japan, economic matters held more focus than issues of defence for President Trump.
www.rusi.org
November 13, 2025 at 4:51 PM
In a visit that consolidated bilateral stability between the US and Japan, economic matters held more focus than issues of defence for President Trump, writes Daisuke Kawai in the latest RUSI Commentary.
#HIRING
We're looking for a creative communicator! Step into the role of Communications Coordinator at RUSI and help transform big ideas into impactful stories. Apply now, and/or share with your network: https://bit.ly/4nSfZ0U
Deadline: 24 November
We're looking for a creative communicator! Step into the role of Communications Coordinator at RUSI and help transform big ideas into impactful stories. Apply now, and/or share with your network: https://bit.ly/4nSfZ0U
Deadline: 24 November
November 13, 2025 at 3:46 PM
#HIRING
We're looking for a creative communicator! Step into the role of Communications Coordinator at RUSI and help transform big ideas into impactful stories. Apply now, and/or share with your network: https://bit.ly/4nSfZ0U
Deadline: 24 November
We're looking for a creative communicator! Step into the role of Communications Coordinator at RUSI and help transform big ideas into impactful stories. Apply now, and/or share with your network: https://bit.ly/4nSfZ0U
Deadline: 24 November