Defence spending cuts are rarely out of the news.  One of the ways of economising is for the UK's Ministry of Defence to spend money on so-called, 'off the shelf' systems.  But there could be problems with that.  In this podcast, Elizabeth Pearson talks to Dr John Louth, Deputy Head of RUSI's Defence Industries and Society Programme.  He's looked into the effects of buying off the shelf - and found it could be a false economy.  I began by asking Dr Louth about the current strategy for Defence buying.


The Defence Pound: Are we better off 'buying British'?

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Tensions in the Gulf region have soared following a drone and missile attack on Saudi oil facilities, and the Kingdom is faced with a plethora of security challenges. These come at a time of extensive social and economic reforms inside the Kingdom. Prince Khalid discussed all these questions and offered his views on the Kingdom’s security and prosperity in the years to come.  

The conversation was on the record.

A Conversation with HRH Prince Khalid bin Bandar Al Saud, Ambassador of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia to the United Kingdom

Professor Malcolm Chalmers and Dr Jonathan Eyal discuss the implications of the premiership of Boris Johnson and the impending Brexit deadline.

Professor Malcolm Chalmers is Deputy Director General at RUSI, Dr Jonathan Eyal is the Associate Director, Strategic Research Partnerships.

The New Boris Johnson Government

The panel of judges have exceptionally this year awarded two medals: John Hussey and Helen Parr received prizes for their books, Waterloo: The Campaign of 1815 and Our Boys respectively. The winners emerged from a strong shortlist of authors writing on military history.

The Duke of Wellington Medal for Military History Awards 2019

Recorded on 10 July 2019 at 18:15 In 2001, Jack Straw became the first senior British government minister to visit Iran since the 1979 revolution and has developed a growing interest in the country ever since. His latest book examines Britain’s extraordinary and tangled relationship with Iran, and why so many Iranians are obsessed with Britain’s role. Rather as we in the United Kingdom continue to define ourselves by what happened nearly eighty years ago at the start of the Second World War, modern Iranians define themselves by their bloody experience of the Iran–Iraq war of 1980–88, where the country had stood alone against Iraq. The conflict was an act of unprovoked aggression by Saddam Hussein, leader of Iraq. The rest of the world – France, the Soviet Union, later the US and the UK – all piled in to support Iraq, with Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States bankrolling Saddam. It was this experience that has helped define Iran’s view of the world, and its attitudes to both its local rivals for power and those further afield. In his presentation, Jack Straw shed new light on Britain’s difficult relationship with Iran and explore the culture, psychology and history of this fascinating country. The Rt Hon Jack Straw is one of three senior Ministers to remain in Cabinet throughout the 1997 to 2010 Labour Government. He served as Foreign Secretary (2001 to 2006), Home Secretary (1997 to 2001), Leader of the Commons (2006 to 2007), and Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary (2007 to 2010). He was Member of Parliament for Blackburn from 1979 to 7 May 2015, when he retired from the Commons. Before becoming an MP, Jack practiced as a Barrister, and then worked as a Special Adviser in the Labour Government of 1974 to 1979. He served on the Opposition Front Bench from 1980 to 1997. He is a Distinguished Fellow of RUSI and a Visiting Professor at University College London School of Public Policy. Since 2015 he has been Chairman of the Blackburn Youth Zone, and from 2017 a Trustee of the Tauheedul Education Trust. He is a Trustee of the Global Strategy Forum and of the Atlantic Partnership. His other publications include: ‘Last Man Standing: Memoirs of a Political Survivor’ (Macmillan: 2012); Hamlyn Lectures 2012 on Law Reform (CUP).

The Rt Hon Jack Straw Presents 'The English Job: Understanding Iran'

In this RUSI Analysis podcast, Dr Emma De Angelis interviews Richard Grayson, Professor of Twentieth Century History at Goldsmiths, University of London; Catriona Pennell, Associate Professor of History at the University of Exeter; and Santanu Das, Professor of English Literature at King’s College London. Together, they explore how the centenary of the First World War has been marked in Britain and beyond, and the role played by commemoration in British politics and society today.

The Defence Pound: Are we better off 'buying British'?

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