Global Security Briefing

Originally published 27 January 2022.

In the first episode of 'Mind the Gulf', hosts Darya Dolzikova and Tobias Borck introduce the series and speak with Professor Nasser Hadian from the University of Tehran about Iranian views on regional security and the nuclear question.

The podcast starts with Darya outlining the trajectory of international diplomacy around the Iranian nuclear programme and providing a quick backgrounder on the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA) and the ongoing negotiations in Vienna. Tobias then gives a brief overview of how the often tense relations between Iran and other states in the Gulf and the wider Middle East have shaped regional security for the past half century.

Later in the episode, Professor Hadian outlines Iran's key concerns, its relationship with Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf states, and the interaction between Iran's foreign policy and its nuclear programme, as well as offering his thoughts on the future of the JCPOA. 

The podcast is part of RUSI's Iran in the Global Security Context project.

Originally published 22 December 2021. 

AUKUS helps build regional deterrence, yet more is needed beyond defence cooperation.

Veerle is joined by Dr Zack Cooper, Senior Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, who offers insights on how AUKUS fits into US strategic thinking on meeting the rising challenges in the Indo-Pacific for the US and its allies. Further cooperation beyond exclusive groupings focused on defence is needed, particularly in the areas of technology, trade and governance, and Zack explains how Europe and Indo-Pacific partners stand to play an important role. Tune in also for a discussion on what is meant by integrated deterrence.

This episode examines how the UK and Russia are approaching the interlinked challenges of climate change and the transition from hydrocarbon reliance to ‘green’ energy, and explores how these issues are shaping the domestic and foreign policies of the two countries, as well as their bilateral relationship.

Professor Michael Bradshaw, Professor of Global Energy at the University of Warwick Business School, and Maria Pastukhova, Senior Policy Advisor in the energy and climate change think tank E3G’s Berlin office, discuss with Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, how efforts to tackle climate change and manage the energy transition away from carbon resources are affecting the geoeconomics of the UK–Russia relationship, and consider the potential for joint work in this area as the bilateral relationship has become increasingly confrontational.

Originally published 8 December 2021.

In this episode, Veerle is joined by Dr Michito Tsuruoka, Associate Professor at Keio University in Japan to explore Japan’s reaction to the announcement of AUKUS, what this means for Japan’s immediate security environment, and how it fits into the regional security architecture.

Tokyo will need to think critically what role it has to play in the Indo-Pacific’s defence and security landscape: will Japan be a passive participant or will it assume a more active role, on par with its closest strategic partners? Tokyo will need to overcome current legal, bureaucratic, and political hurdles .

In this episode, Fiona Hill (Brookings Institution), former deputy assistant to President Donald Trump and senior director for European and Russian affairs on the National Security Council, talks to Neil Melvin about US policy towards Russia, European security, and her new book on the populist challenges in the US and the UK.

Fiona Hill is currently the Robert Bosch senior fellow in the Center on the United States and Europe in the Foreign Policy programme at Brookings. Before serving in key roles in the Trump administration, she was national intelligence officer for Russia and Eurasia working under Presidents George W Bush and Barack Obama. In this episode, Dr Hill discusses with Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, the urgent challenge of resisting Russian actions in Eastern Europe, and notably Ukraine; the need for Europe to take a united approach to Russia; and the imperative of addressing socioeconomic inequality in the US and the UK to counter the rise of populist politics.

Originally published 24 November 2021.

The defence partnership has divided opinion and frayed some partnerships. For Southeast Asia, the stakes are high, but consensus on AUKUS remains elusive.

Veerle is joined by Dr Collin Koh, Research Fellow at the Institute of Defence and Strategic Studies of the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore. Dr Koh explains that Southeast Asian countries can largely be divided into three camps in their responses to AUKUS, with a particularly interesting analysis of Cambodia’s strategic outlook. The new partnership highlights once again some difficult questions for Southeast Asian countries regarding how to manage their own regional security, while maintaining ASEAN centrality and navigating growing tensions between the US and Beijing.

This episode examines the re-emergence of the concept of strategic stability as a means of managing security relations between Russia and the transatlantic community and avoiding war.

Following Moscow’s annexation of Crimea in 2014 and its military intervention in eastern Ukraine, the confrontation between Russia and NATO has become increasingly dangerous. In 2021, Presidents Putin and Biden launched a dialogue to manage rising tensions focused on promoting strategic stability in their relations. In this episode, Professor Andrey Kortunov, Director General of the Russian International Affairs Council, and Professor Malcolm Chalmers, Deputy Director-General of RUSI, discuss with Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, the value that ideas of strategic stability have for addressing growing nuclear and conventional tensions, and consider how the UK and Russia might improve their own bilateral security relationship through a strategic stability dialogue.

This episode examines how Turkey, long viewed as a stalwart of NATO , has moved outside its previous focus on European security to play a wider regional role in its immediate neighbourhood and beyond, including across the Middle East and Africa. How will Turkey’s broadening security horizon affect its position in NATO, its relations with the Transatlantic community and in particular the US? And how can the UK – long a close partner of Turkey – best develop its security and defence links with Ankara?

Turkey has long been seen as a key part of an expanding European security space, both as a member of NATO and as an EU membership candidate. The souring of ties between Turkey and the EU, and growing instability in Turkey’s southern and eastern neighbourhood has, however, seen Turkey moving beyond the European security framework, and even developing closer ties with Russia. In this episode, Professor Hüseyin Bağcı, President of the Foreign Policy Institute in Ankara and Professor of International Relations at the Middle East Technical University, and Dr. Ziya Meral, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow, discuss with Dr Neil Melvin, Director RUSI International Security Studies, the drivers behind Turkey’s evolving approach to security and defence and look ahead to Turkey’s future role within European security.

Originally published 10 November 2021. 

The Australia defence partnership has divided opinion and frayed relationships. For France, trust will not easily be restored.

‘A stab in the back’ is how the French government described the AUKUS announcement, maintaining that it had been misled to believe the submarine deal with Australia would survive delays and cost overruns. But the impact of this agreement goes beyond just a botched defence industry deal. How can France and its partners in the Indo-Pacific rebuild trust and move forward to meet their common objectives in the region? Veerle is joined by Dr Valérie Niquet, Head of the Asia Department at the Foundation for Strategic Research in Paris, in seeking some of the answers.

This episode examines how the UK and Russia are approaching relations with countries of the Middle East as the region experiences major conflict and instability. While there is growing competition as the UK and Russia renew their interests, there may be areas where they could work together to help stabilise the region, notably on handling Iran's nuclear programme.

After declining regional interest following the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia returned to the Middle East with its 2014 military intervention in Syria – an involvement Moscow has subsequently sought to deepen. Meanwhile, the UK is looking to reshape its regional engagement, notably as part of its post-Brexit readjustment of its foreign and security policies.

In this episode, Dr Dmitri Trenin, Director of the Carnegie Moscow Center, and Michael Stevens, a leading authority on the UK’s role in the Middle East and North Africa, discuss with Dr Neil Melvin, Director of RUSI’s International Security Studies team, how regional competition and limited cooperation between London and Moscow is playing out across the region.