Policy area: Foreign policy

Reports

Lessons from bottom-up analysis of crime, terror and insecurity in Africa

This report from UK think tank RUSI presents practical considerations arising from RUSI's three-year project 'Organised Crime, Terror and Insecurity in Africa'. The report presents practical considerations arising from RUSI's three-year project 'Organised Crime, Terror and Insecurity in Africa', which explores local perceptions and experiences of key security threats. The link between crime and terrorism...

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Crime, terror and insecurity in Nigeria

This report from UK think tank RUSI takes bottom-up perceptions of violence as a starting point for analysing northern Nigeria’s threat landscape. Nigeria faces numerous security threats: from high rates of violent crime and enduring kidnap-for-ransom issues to long-running insurgencies in the northeast and a metastasising banditry problem in the northwest. Local assessments of these...

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Crime, terror and insecurity in Mozambique

This report from UK think tank RUSI provides a comprehensive analysis of Mozambique's complex and layered security landscape. Mozambique faces an array of security challenges, from resilient illicit economies to an enduring kidnapping problem and a long running insurgency in the north. Many security challenges play out at community level, yet local perceptions and experiences...

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Asylum management centres – a new approach to reduce small boat crossings

This report from UK think tank the Future Governance Forum calls on government to set up new asylum management centres in France to divert asylum seekers into safe routes. With rising small boat arrivals and a dysfunctional asylum system, the government faces growing pressure to demonstrate control at the border. But achieving a significant and...

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Why peacebuilding fails and what to do about it

This report from UK think tank Chatham House looks at evidence from conflict economies in the Middle East and Africa. As the world becomes geopolitically more fragmented, conflicts are increasing in complexity and number – up by almost three-quarters since the 2000s. In this shifting order, conflict is being internationalized in new ways as states,...

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Hamas’s human shield strategy in Gaza

This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society provides an analysis of Hamas’s systematic use of human shield tactics during the 7 October Israel–Hamas war. Since 7 October 2023, the UN has issued 367 reports that are filed under the subject of “Gaza Strip”. A search of these reports reveals that the UN...

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The long arm of Tehran: why the UK should ban the IRGC

This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society The Iranian regime’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) sponsors terrorism as part of its mission to export the Islamic revolution around the globe via proxies such as Hamas and Hezbollah. The UK has imposed sanctions on the IRGC and the Labour Party while in opposition...

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Nuclear facilities as targets of military attack

This report from UK think tank RUSI assesses drivers and Implications for nuclear safety. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its occupation of Ukrainian nuclear facilities has highlighted the threat that militaries can pose to nuclear installations. This paper aims to understand the operational and strategic logic of why states may use military force against nuclear...

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How China–India relations will shape Asia and the global order

This report from UK think tank Chatham House explores the main factors behind the relationship between China and India. The China–US relationship is widely regarded as the defining geopolitical issue of the 21st century. But relations between China and India arguably hold greater long-term significance for the future of Asia and the global order. These...

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Reform to conserve: a novel approach to the UK and the ECtHR via the Council of Europe

This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society presents the case for reforming the European Court of Human Rights to address growing concerns over its perceived constraints on UK sovereignty. This policy paper presents a compelling case for reforming the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) to address growing concerns over its perceived...

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Rebalancing European joint fires to deter Russia

This report from UK think tank RUSI considers the role of land-air integration in achieving the suppression and destruction of enemy air defences. NATO land forces are overwhelmingly dependent on air power for fires. Without large-scale US assistance, however, European air forces would currently struggle to roll back dense and integrated air defence systems (IADS)...

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Advancing the US-UK ‘special relationship’ during the second Trump presidency

This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society discusses advancing the US-UK 'special relationship' during the second Trump term. The re-election of President Donald J. Trump, supported by a unified Republican Congress, signals a decisive shift in US foreign policy toward a more consolidated, ideology-driven approach under the “America First” doctrine. For the...

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Winning the industrial war: comparing Russia, Europe and Ukraine, 2022–24

This report from UK think tank RUSI focuses on the key policy issues that have shaped military-industrial production in Russia, Ukraine and European NATO. During Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Russian defence industry has managed to significantly increase defence production. Ukraine has also done this, although to a lesser extent. European members of NATO,...

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Conflict prevention under pressure

This report from UK think tank Chatham House analyses how effective the most common interventions are and whether they are fit for future conflicts. With governments around the world seeking to reduce their foreign aid budgets, and at a time of increasing global crises, those involved in conflict prevention face having to do more with...

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Competing visions of international order

This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines responses to US power in a fracturing world. The ‘liberal international order’ that has been predominant, if often controversial, since 1945 is being challenged as never before. This reflects factors both long-standing and recent: the rise of China; the frustrations and ambitions of countries – including...

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