Government

Global Security Briefing

1

Global Security Briefing

The Royal United Services Institute
The Interview

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The Interview

BBC World Service
Our Scottish Future

3

Our Scottish Future

Our Scottish Future

17 Jun

Inside Russia's Wartime Economy

What does the Russian wartime economy look like beneath the official data – and what are the implications for regime stability? In early June, President Putin took to the stage at the St Petersburg International Economic Forum – Russia's flagship annual showcase for investors and international media – and delivered a characteristically assured account of an economy not just surviving but adapting. Sanctions, he suggested, had been absorbed. Western predictions of collapse had amounted to little more than wishful thinking. But if we look more closely at the current state of the Russian economy beyond the Kremlin narratives, the picture is more distorted. This is a classic war economy where growth is almost entirely a function of state defence orders, public spending has reached historically elevated levels, and the civilian economy is being systematically drained of labour, capital and technology to feed the military-industrial complex. In this episode, Natia Seskuria, Senior Research Fellow, Russian and Eurasian Security, is joined by RUSI Associate Fellow Charles Hecker, to discuss Russia's wartime economy and explore the following questions: What does the Russian wartime economy actually look like? As economic strain intensifies and the logic of state predation deepens, what are the implications for regime stability? If the conflict extends to another three to five years, how will Western corporate engagement with Russia evolve – and what risks does that trajectory create for sanctions coherence and Euro-Atlantic security? Some of the data and sector information in this podcast were sourced from The Bell, written by Alexandra Prokopenko and Alexander Kolyandr. More information on the Russian economy is available at their website: www.thebell.io.

17 Jun

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38 min
1 Jul

Geopolitics, Statecraft and the Changing Face of Organised Crime

Organised crime no longer operates outside international politics. Criminal networks are increasingly present in spaces once associated with intelligence services, foreign policy and national security. In this edition of Global Security Briefing hosted by Cathy Heanlein, Director of Organised Crime and Policing at RUSI, we look at the blurring of boundaries between crime, statecraft and geopolitics. The discussion coincides with a new special issue of RUSI's flagship Journal on 'the Changing Face of Organised Crime'. The issue brings together leading experts to examine how crime is evolving in a period of technological disruption, geopolitical competition and profound changes in the international order. Cathy is joined by Professor Heather Marquette, Professor of Development Politics at the University of Birmingham, and Dr Magda Long, an international security researcher and consultant, to explore the following questions: How should we understand the relationship between organised crime and state power? Are criminal networks merely opportunistic actors operating in geopolitical spaces, or are they increasingly performing strategic functions for states? Is the role played by criminal networks in Russia comparable to what we see in Iran or the Western Balkans, or do different political environments produce different forms of state–crime interaction? If states such as Russia and Iran are increasingly using criminal networks to evade sanctions, acquire restricted goods or conduct covert operations, are existing laws, institutions and strategies equipped to respond?

1 Jul

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39 min
3 Jun

No Easy Off-Ramp: Iran, the US and the Search for a Deal

Are we seeing the potential for a diplomatic off-ramp in the latest phase of the Iran crisis, or just another pause in a much longer confrontation? The broad picture at the beginning of June 2026 is that the US and Iran appear to be trying to move from immediate crisis management to a more structured negotiation, but the process remains extremely fragile. A reported 60-day ceasefire extension would, in theory, create space for talks on reopening the Strait of Hormuz, easing some economic pressure on Iran, and eventually addressing nuclear concerns. But the hardest issues remain unresolved: Iran's enriched uranium, the future of its nuclear programme, sanctions relief, security guarantees, and the sequencing of who moves first. In this episode, Professor Ali Ansari, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, International Security at RUSI, joins host Dr Burcu Ozcelik, to explore the following topics: - What Tehran wants from the current round of talks. - Understanding Iran's insistence that Lebanon be included in the ceasefire. - How much room does the Iranian leadership have to compromise, after war and economic pressure, in the renewed negotiations with Washington? - After spending decades studying the way the US fights wars, has Iran read the US more accurately than Washington and Israel have read Iran?

3 Jun

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42 min

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