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Dear friends,
RUSI highlights from the month of May include a visit to Japan, welcoming several international leaders from Central Asia and the Middle East to RUSI, and hosting events on UK defence and the EU Referendum.
In mid-May, I had the pleasure of leading a delegation to Tokyo to meet with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Japanese defence and security officials. RUSI’s delegation, which included Associate Director Dr Jonathan Eyal and Director of RUSI Japan Dr Chiaki Akimoto, discussed UK–Japan relations and international security dynamics. We also held discussions in anticipation of the 3rd RUSI Security Dialogue, which will be held in Tokyo late Autumn 2016 so as to coincide with the first UK-Japan joint air exercise. The UK’s expanding relationship with Japan will bolster security in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond, and RUSI has played an active role in shaping the debate about the nature of this relationship.
While in Tokyo, Jonathan and I also gave a seminar on global efforts to counter Daesh for the policy community, and we briefed Japanese journalists on relevant security and defence issues. We also discussed the recently published (early May) Daesh database which Sky News shared with RUSI: RUSI’s analysis of the leaked recruitment files revealed important details about how Daesh administers its territory, how it recruits individuals and what it has learned from organisations such as Al-Qa’ida.
This month RUSI also upheld its role as the podium of choice for leading international figures, with speakers including HE President Ashraf Ghani of Afghanistan, and HRH Prince Turki al Faisal, former Saudi Ambassador to the UK and the US, who gave lectures on the challenges facing their respective regions.
RUSI also hosted Mr Tomasz Szatkowski, Poland’s Under-Secretary of State for Defence, who briefed RUSI Members on Polish defence considerations ahead of the NATO Warsaw Summit in July. The question of Eastern European security is likely to be at the heart of the discussions in Warsaw as NATO debates how it should react to a resurgent and revanchist Russia. As part of its work in the former Soviet space, RUSI partnered with Georgia’s Ministry of Defence to lead the discussion on the challenges of hybrid warfare 10th annual Georgia Defence and Security Conference held in Tbilisi.
RUSI’s reputation for leading cutting-edge research programmes will be enhanced by a new research initiative to examine the military covenant, a pact between the military and broader society. In collaboration with the Nationwide Building Society, RUSI will look at the application and enforcement of covenants covering the corporate, military and community sectors since the scheme was launched in 2012.
Finally, with less than a month to go until the EU Referendum, RUSI hosted Sir Simon Fraser, Former Permanent Under-Secretary of State and Head of the Diplomatic Service, who spoke on the potential impact of Brexit and its likely diplomatic consequences. Three commentaries are available on the RUSI website and featured in the forthcoming RUSI Journal — on the current EU debate: Professor Sir Michael Howard details how the referendum fits into the long history of the UK’s relationship with mainland Europe; the Rt Hon Dr Julian Lewis MP argues that the EU is a threat to peace; while Professor Christopher Coker argues that a Brexit would leave the EU weakened, benefiting Russia and China.
In a paper released on Friday, 3 June 2016, RUSI’s Deputy Director-General Professor Malcolm Chalmers also enters the debate, drawing on his experience of the UK’s Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR) to examine the impact that Brexit might have on UK defence spending and strategic priorities.
Full coverage of our EU Referendum activities can be found online: RUSI.org/EUVote.
Karin von Hippel
Director-General, RUSI
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