Market-based reforms to the UK economic sanctions regime
This report from UK think tank the Adam Smith Institute looks at market-based reforms to the UK's economic sanctions regime. The UK’s current sanctions regime is dysfunctional, as exemplified by the failure to place meaningful pressure on Russia to abandon its invasion of Ukraine. The intent of these sanctions was to damage the Russian economy...
Degrade and deny
This report from UK think tank the Adam Smith Institute considers potential next steps for the UK’s sanctions strategy. This paper considers potential next steps for the UK’s sanctions strategy, drawing on the academic literature and the growing evidence base to suggest what an “Economic Sanctions Strategy 2.0” might look like. In doing so, it...
Shopping for mass destruction: North Korea’s illicit procurement networks
This report from UK think tank RUSI draws on underexploited source material to offer an overview of North Korea’s procurement networks over the past five years. This paper analyses North Korea’s procurement networks, particularly in view of North Korea’s programmatic successes and recent geopolitical shifts in Russia’s relationship with North Korea as a result of...
Decreasing rare earths dependency: how the Five Eyes alliance can minimise rare earth trading risk with China
This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society explores strategies for Five Eyes Alliance countries to diversify away from China for the importing of rare earth elements. This report explores strategies for Five Eyes Alliance countries (the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Australia and New Zealand) to diversify away from China for...
Tracing the ‘continuum of violence’ between Nigeria and Libya
This report from UK think tank Chatham House looks at how the movement of people from Edo State fuels the Libyan conflict economy. Despite being thousands of miles apart, Libya and Edo State in southern Nigeria are connected by a centuries-old route for trade and the movement of people. Since the outbreak of conflict in...
China ‘under siege’
This report from UK think tank Chatham House examines how the US’s hardening China policy is seen in Beijing. The China–US relationship has no doubt deteriorated in recent years. Washington’s policy of containing China through the application of restrictions on certain goods and markets, as well as China’s own economic downturn, has increased the tension...
Preliminary lessons from Ukraine’s offensive operations, 2022–23
This report from UK think tank RUSI examines the causes of the failure of the Ukrainian offensive in 2023 to avoid the repetition of such errors in the future. The purpose of this report is to examine the causes of the failure of the Ukrainian offensive in 2023 to avoid the repetition of such errors...
Between ambition and reality: how Space fits into the UK Defence Framework
This report from UK think tank RUSI argues that a wider understanding of the services and support that space can offer is needed across defence. Space is ubiquitous in modern defence: space capabilities are essential in areas such as gathering intelligence, enabling navigation and precision firepower via GPS, and communicating beyond the line of sight....
Linking forces: Western support for the Russian diaspora
This report from UK think tank the Henry Jackson Society examines Western support for the Russian diaspora. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has understandably focused the Western response on supporting Ukraine. However, the ‘as long as it takes’ rhetoric should have been relegated to the dustbin of slogan history and replaced with...
Navigating the storm?
This report from UK think tank the Centre for European Reform sets out the risks of a second Trump presidency for the UK and the EU. As Donald Trump eyes a return to the White House, UK and EU policy-makers are bracing for disruption. A second Trump presidency would lead to extensive transatlantic turbulence. Trump’s...
