This report from UK think tank RUSI reveals how masculinity norms fuel conflict, violent extremism and gender-based violence in the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia borderlands. This paper reveals how masculinity norms fuel conflict, violent extremism (VE) and gender-based violence (GBV) in the Kenya-Somalia-Ethiopia borderlands, shaping Al-Shabaab's recruitment and deepening insecurity. It offers actionable recommendations for defence and security...

This report from UK think tank the Coalitiion for Global Prosperity explores China's influence and coercion across the Commonwealth. Consecutive UK governments have underinvested in the UK’s relationships with Commonwealth countries, to the benefit of the People’s Republic of China (PRC), which has become the largest trading partner and, in many cases, the largest bilateral...

This report from UK think tank the Coalition for Global Prosperity asks why the system now commands so little political legitimacy and what it might take to restore it. In the aftermath of the Second World War, Europe was confronted with a crisis of staggering proportions: 55 million people had been forcibly displaced across the...

This report from UK think tank RUSI offers policy solutions to balance financial integrity with financial inclusion. This paper reveals how FATF greylisting – the designation of countries as ‘jurisdictions under increased monitoring due to strategic deficiencies in their anti‑money laundering and countering the financing of terrorism (AML/CFT) regimes’ – can unintentionally undermine financial inclusion....

This report from UK think tank RUSI explores how intersectional gender analysis strengthens understanding of and defence against state threats. This paper demonstrates how integrating intersectional gender analysis enhances defence and security strategies against state threats by exploring why it has been absent and the basis for including it. Key Recommendations: Build the evidence base...

This report from UK think tank RUSI presents a framework for integrating gender and identity analysis into the assessment of and response to hybrid threats. RUSI's project on Enhancing NATO Counter Hybrid Threats Strategies with Gender Analysis examines how adversarial actors weaponise gender and identity as part of hybrid threat strategies aimed at weakening social...

This report from UK think tank RUSI underscores the need for integrated approaches to peacebuilding, development and security in the borderlands. This paper provides critical insights into the complex dynamics of instability in the Kenya–Somalia–Ethiopia borderlands, drawing on findings from the Deris Wanaag project's research conference held in Nairobi in February 2026. ​The conference brought...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Development Studies demonstrates that democracy delivers development better than other regimes. Democracy is in crisis. Anti-democratic politicians and anti-rights movements are becoming more popular. Simultaneously, growing inequality around the world – a product of neoliberal capitalist societies – has left millions of people feeling left behind...

This report from UK think tank the Coalition of Global Prosperity explores how Russia is using disinformation to set the foundation for future aggression in Europe. Disinformation and propaganda have been central to Russian strategy for more than a century. Notwithstanding technological developments and shifting political dynamics, Russia’s contemporary information campaigns exhibit striking similarities to...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Development Studies conceptualises gender backlash as a multidimensional attack on gender equality. This report distils six years of collaborative research (from late 2019 to early 2026) from the IDS-led Countering Backlash programme, by IDS itself and 11 partners across seven countries on how contemporary gender backlash...

This report from UK think tank the Institute of Development Studies warns that surveillance is violating citizens' freedoms and their human right to privacy. This report provides the most comprehensive account to date of smart city surveillance in Africa. Expert researchers draw on their contextual experience of their own countries in detailed reports on Algeria,...

This report from UK think tank RUSI examines how hostile states exploit far-right gender and identity narratives to polarise societies and weaken democracies. This paper highlights the critical intersection between hostile state actors and transnational far-right movements, revealing how gender and identity-based narratives are weaponised to polarise societies, weaken democratic institutions and disrupt international alliances....

This report from UK think tank RUSI stresses the need to integrate preventing and countering VE across development and security coverage. By contextualising violent extremism (VE) within broader conflict systems, this paper stresses the need to integrate preventing and countering VE across development and security coverage. Despite several conceptual and operational barriers, this approach would...

This report from UK think tank ECFR looks at how France and the UK can use their satellite terminals to provide internet access to Iranians. Tehran has used a communications blackout to suppress nationwide protests and control information flows. French and UK governments can use their own satellite terminals to provide Iranians with independent internet...

This report from UK think tank Chatham House proposes a three-year roadmap for security sector and governance reforms. Haiti’s security crisis continues unabated, with a combination of gang violence, a weak state and underfunded multilateral intervention prolonging instability. To compound the political challenges, the expiry of the Transitional Presidential Council’s mandate in February 2026 could...