Annual Report 2023-2024
Royal United Services Institute
Overview
The 12 months making up the 2023-24 financial year saw further major geo-political upheaval, most notably with the conflict in the Middle East that has been underway since Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October 2023. This has meant demand for RUSI’s insight and expertise has remained high, as it has done since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In meeting this demand, RUSI’s influence has remained equally high. Our researchers and experts are helping to shape policy and legislation in the UK and internationally. Our presence in domestic and international media has been constant and, we have published major pieces of research on topics as diverse as Russia’s unconventional warfare tactics, the harms posed by ransomware and the implications of a second Trump presidency for UK and European security.
Significantly for the long-term future of the Institute, July 2023 saw the reopening of our historic home, 61 Whitehall, following a three-year, £13.5m renovation effort. The reopening of the office has brought the majority of our employees together in one place, and our newly refurbished headquarters has already hosted a number of major speeches and events.
Our Research
Research remains the bedrock on which RUSI and its reputation is founded. In 2023-24 we published more than 50 pieces of research. Each of our research groups has made a contribution to helping policymakers, experts and the wider public understand the challenges we face and the options available to us to address them.
SIFMANet Summit 2023
SIFMANet Summit 2023
RUSI and Estonia Organise UN Dialogue on Ransomware with Costa Rica and Vanuatu, 24 July 2023.
RUSI and Estonia Organise UN Dialogue on Ransomware with Costa Rica and Vanuatu, 24 July 2023.
UK Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey MP delivers the keynote address at the Latin American Security Conference on 25 January 2024.
UK Minister for the Armed Forces James Heappey MP delivers the keynote address at the Latin American Security Conference on 25 January 2024.
UK PONI Annual Conference 2023
UK PONI Annual Conference 2023
Max Hill KC spoke on 20 Years of Terrorism Prosecutions on 28 September 2023.
Max Hill KC spoke on 20 Years of Terrorism Prosecutions on 28 September 2023.
Dr Jack Watling and Dr Peter Roberts at The Arms of the Future book launch
Dr Jack Watling and Dr Peter Roberts at The Arms of the Future book launch
Nic Woodhall, NCA; Cathy Haenlein, RUSI; Virginia Comolli, GI-TOC; and Angela Me, UNODC speak at the RUSI Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2023.
Nic Woodhall, NCA; Cathy Haenlein, RUSI; Virginia Comolli, GI-TOC; and Angela Me, UNODC speak at the RUSI Serious and Organised Crime Conference 2023.
RUSI Combat Air Conference, March 2024
RUSI Combat Air Conference, March 2024
Highlights included:
- Our Centre for Finance and Security (CFS)’s work relating to sanctions on Russia and the national security considerations of digital central bank currencies.
- Our Cyber Research Group’s comprehensive understanding of Ransomware and notably, research into the experience of victim’s of ransomware attacks.
- Our International Security team’s six principles for a more dynamic and effective UK-China Strategy.
- Military Science’s consideration of both how human-machine teaming can be leveraged and the proliferation risks posed by autonomous weapons as well as extensive research on the Ukraine-Russia war.
- The environmental and human security risks of critical minerals in the transition to clean energy, studied by our Organised Crime and Policing group.
- Project Anthracite, led by our Proliferation and Nuclear Policy team, examining the extent to which North Korea’s chemical industry can support a chemical weapons programme.
- Research into preventing far-right extremism in the UK’s security forces, delivered by our Terrorism & Conflict experts.
Our Impact and Influence
Although RUSI works closely with the UK government and other governments around the world, our independence remains central to our effectiveness. Our policy recommendations are known to be credible and implementable and are directly impacting the formulation of legislation or policy, as can be seen from a host of examples during 2023-24.
Our publication of a paper on UK-German Defence and security cooperation in May 2023 helped to crystalise the thinking of the new Labour government on the area. Labour made a commitment to the core recommendations of the paper within six months of forming a government and the Trinity House Agreement was signed in October 2024.
Our financial crime policy team worked closely with civil society and cross-bench parliamentarians to deliver key amendments to the UK’s Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act. These will help strengthen the UK’s defences against illicit finance by preventing abuse of the UK corporate register and holding large companies to account for failing to prevent fraud.
Two members of our Centre for Finance and Security (CFS) were also appointed as Specialist Advisors to Parliamentary Committees in the UK, one supporting the Home Affairs Select Committee and one supporting the Foreign Affairs Select Committee.
Our research paper ‘Cyber Insurance and the Ransomware Challenge’ directly informed the development of new UK National Cyber Security Centre guidance to toughen the insurance sector’s approach to ransom payments.
The UK’s Department for Environment and Rural Affairs funded work by our environmental crime specialists has led to Uganda including a full risk assessment of Environmental and Natural Resource crimes, including wildlife crime, in its National Risk Assessment for Money Laundering and Terrorism Finance for the first time.
Members of the Military Sciences team continue to conduct key field work in both Ukraine and Israel and have shaped this into briefings and publications that have been distributed to the Ministry of Defence and wider policy and defence communities across the UK government and internationally.
Our tracking of Russian civil nuclear exports and the importance of Western dependency on Russian enriched uranium is of great interest to US, UK and European governments, industry and media. RUSI’s work on this subject has influenced the formulation of policies around the effective diversification away from Russian supply.
This year has seen the completion of the STRIVE Afghanistan project, a €3 million, EU-funded, programme dedicated to countering violent extremism. European policymakers were directly targeted, including briefing the International Contact Group on Afghanistan in September 2023. The expertise produced by the programme provided the EU with greater understanding and different perspectives on issues related to the Taliban, preventing and countering violent extremism and engagement in Afghanistan.
Our Convening Power
Our influence is also manifested in our ability to bring together major figures from across the worlds of defence, security and geopolitics. Since returning to our 61 Whitehall home, we have played host to leaders from around the world, including UK Ministers and Shadow Ministers, European Presidents and Foreign Ministers and Deputy Secretaries and Special Envoys from the US.
Our annual lectures go from strength to strength, hosting Graeme Biggar, Director General of the NCA who gave our Annual Security Lecture; Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, Chief of the Defence Staff who delivered our Annual Defence Lecture; and Air Vice-Marshal Suraya Marshall, who provided the 2023 Lord Trenchard Memorial Lecture.
Our research groups have also brought together major figures to enable discussions on some of the most pressing issues.
Our Centre for Finance and Security hosted an event on the margins of the UK Government’s first AI Safety Summit, held in November 2023. Examining the role that AI can play both in enabling fraud and disrupting criminal activity, the then Security Minister Tom Tugendhat gave a keynote speech and took part in a panel discussion.
Our International Security group convened its second Latin American Security conference bringing together policy makers, leading academic experts and other stakeholders to consider ways to achieve sustainable peace in the region.
Our Organised Crime and Policing research group partnered with the National Crime Agency to deliver the inaugural Serious and Organised Crime Conference, with the aim of consolidating relationships between the NCA and external academics, researchers and analysts. The flagship event sought to identify key and emerging issues, define research requirements, and explore barriers to and opportunities for enhanced cooperation across sectors.
Our Military Sciences team delivered internationally recognised conferences on Combat Air, Integrated Air and Missile Defence, Sea Power, Space Power, UN Peacekeeping and our flagship Land Warfare Conference with the British Army, in which senior leaders from the armed forces, government, policy and industry convened to discuss pressing defence issues.
Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, Chief of the Navy, Australia
Vice Admiral Mark Hammond, Chief of the Navy, Australia
RUSI Sea Power
General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff
General Sir Patrick Sanders, Chief of the General Staff
RUSI Land Warfare
Air Vice Marshal Paul Godfrey, Space Command
Air Vice Marshal Paul Godfrey, Space Command
RUSI Space Policy
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force
Air Chief Marshal Sir Richard Knighton, Chief of the Air Staff, Royal Air Force
RUSI Combat Air
Our Reach
RUSI expertise continues to be a mainstay of UK and international media across a gamut of defence, security and geopolitical stories. In total we featured in more than 50,000 articles over the course of 2023-24. Crucially, around 3,000 of these were in the most influential global titles – news outlets like the UK’s Times the Financial Times, Reuters and Politico.
Our social media following continues to expand, especially on X (formerly Twitter) where we had more than 136,000 followers at the end of March 2024 and LinkedIn, where we had around 40,000 followers.
Our website attracts significant traffic, especially to read our daily commentaries. Over the 12 months, more than 2 million users generated almost 10 million views. Our commentaries generated almost 3 million of these views.
In September 2023 we launched a new customer relationship management platform. This has helped us to engage more effectively with both our members and wider audiences around the world by enabling us to promote events and publications based on expressed areas of interest, providing a greater personalised experience.
Training and Education
Alongside our research, RUSI’s Leadership Centre offers bespoke executive education programmes for diplomats, senior military officials and the private sector from around the globe. We have built on and expanded the flagship training we provide, working with more than 70 individuals over the course of the year. Significantly, 2023-24 saw the first graduate from the RUSI International Diplomacy Training course going on to become an Ambassador.
Our Membership
RUSI has been a membership organisation since our founding, and our members play a crucial role in shaping our culture and our events. During the 2023-24 period we hosted 44 events for our members to attend as part of their subscription offering.
The total number of organisations who are now members of RUSI has increased from 201 at the end of March 2023, to 210 at the end of March 2024, a rise of more than 4%. We see growth of organisational membership as critical to RUSI’s future and are treating this as a priority in the year ahead.
Against this, total individual membership fell by around 10% from 2,060 a year previously to 1,837 at the end of March 2024. This drop can largely be accounted for by a one-off switch to a new CRM system and a change to how lapsed membership was recorded.
We are also looking to the future with our NextGen initiative. RUSI NextGen aims to build a community of early career professionals who share an interest in global affairs, security and defence. Through a calendar of events and networking opportunities throughout the year, we’re providing a platform and network for young professionals aged between 20 and 30. This is a fast-growing initiative and more than 1,100 young professionals have now signed up.
Our Fundraising
RUSI’s Development Office is responsible for philanthropic fundraising to support the work of the Institute and to help develop future sustainable sources of income.
Following the successful completion of the capital appeal for £ 13.5 million, for the re-development of RUSI’s 61 Whitehall home, the Development Office has been focussed on three key objectives:
- Maintaining a close relationship with the donors who gave so generously to the capital appeal.
- Supporting our research groups in identifying potential new sources of philanthropic support for their work.
- Preparing for a potential future new capital appeal
For a new and potentially ambitious appeal to be successful, considerable effort is being put into identifying and building a pipeline of new donors. The Development Office also arranged a number of events, often based around high level speakers. These included entrepreneur and AI thinker Jim Balsillie; the Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey; the British Ambassador to China, Dame Caroline Wilson; the UK Ambassador to Ukraine, Dame Melinda Simmons; and then Shadow Secretary of State for Defence John Healey.
Joint events were organised with the International Churchill Society, including a dinner with then Foreign Secretary, James Cleverly. Overseas meetings were held in New York, Washington DC, Athens, Jersey and Munich.
Our People
RUSI would be nothing without its people: our researchers, who undertake the work on which our reputation is based, and our wider staff, who make it possible for that research to take place.
RUSI’s organisational size increased by around 13% over the year. At the end of March 2024 we employed 132 staff, a change from 116 at the end of the previous financial year. This growth was split equally between additional researchers and central services employees who support the Institute’s work as a whole.
Our Financial Strength
The past 12 months have brought a strengthening of the Institute’s financial position.
A revaluation of the freehold of RUSI’s 61 Whitehall headquarters has seen a gain of £8,753,646, with the freehold now assessed as being worth £21,700,000.
Total gross income increased by 11% on the previous period to £18,715,912 although net income fell to £543,309 from £808,446. Research activity generated just over three quarters of gross income, with the remainder coming from sources such as donations, membership subscriptions, conferences and events, and publications.
Unrestricted reserves of £6,694,978 represent more than six months of budgeted expenditure for the year ending 31 March 2025.
Download our full accounts for the financial year 2023-24 here.
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