Europe

Partnerships are at the Core of Modern Deterrence

Giedrimas Jeglinskas

How does a state achieve effective deterrence? Lithuania provides an example.

"“This suspension of fiscal responsibilities can lead to an oversight of customs’ security function,” said Alexandria Reid, a research analyst at the Royal United Services Institute working on a global project on illicit trade in free trade zones. “In some countries, customs have historically perceived free zones as ‘transit’ issues—effectively ignoring illicit trade or money laundering issues so long as there is no serious leakage of illicit goods or funds into the national economy.” Because free ports do not require disclosures of beneficial owners, anyone can bring in goods on behalf of anyone else, Reid said. The lack of transparency ultimately permits unsourced goods to be bought and sold with cash. Moreover, because free ports rely on self-declarations of the value of any particular export, there is no insight into whether goods have been assigned a false value as part of a trade-based money laundering scheme, according to Reid. "

UK Free Ports Plan Risks Influx of Dirty Money, Say Experts

RUSI partners with GCHQ for Research Project on AI and National Security Policy

Institute to assist government thinking on the use of artificial intelligence for national security.

Austria: The Successful Populist

Tessa Szyszkowitz

Following the election victory of Sebastian Kurz, some are wondering if the Austrian model could be copied across the border in Germany. Kurz’s admirers might want to consider the dangers involved following such a model.

"Gen Petraeus said: "It certainly does raise concerns about our level of commitment to the partners, who really did the fighting, and in many cases the dying on the ground, to eliminate the ISIS caliphate and to defeat the Islamic State as an army. "Keep in mind, there are still tens of thousands of Islamic State fighters in groups in north-eastern Syria... very likely trying to establish an insurgent movement as well as to still carry out terrorist attacks." "

American Troops Leaving Syria 'Raises Concerns Over US Commitment' To Allies

The End of Defence Austerity? The 2019 Spending Round and the UK Defence Budget

Malcolm Chalmers

While challenges remain, the financial position of UK Defence has improved significantly over the last two years.