Between 2 and 4 September 2026, the Royal United Services Institute published research on financial regulation and security, addressing FATF anti-money-laundering frameworks, conflict financing, hybrid threats, proliferation risks, cyber campaigns by mid-tier states, and UK supervision effectiveness.
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# RUSI : The FATF Needs to Tackle How War is Financed https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/fatf-needs-tackle-how-war-financed Conflict financing sits at the heart of many grey- and blacklisted jurisdictions, yet the FATF has never treated it as a distinct, cross cutting risk. In this Professional Insight, the author calls for a dedicated report on how wars are fund
# RUSI : Revision to FATF Recommendation 8: Impacts on Sub-Saharan Africa https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/revision-fatf-recommendation-8-impacts-sub-saharan-africa FATF Recommendation 8 was intended to protect legitimate charities, but in practice many sub-Saharan African governments have used it to justify blanket, costly regulation of non-profit organisation
# RUSI : Combatting the Illicit Financing of Hybrid Threats https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/combatting-illicit-financing-hybrid-threats A Professional Insight in which the authors examine Russia’s war in Ukraine and destabilisation of Europe to show how hybrid warfare is financed through illicit networks. They argue that the FATF and states need new typologies
# RUSI : Reassessing Structural, Contextual Constraints in FATF Evaluations https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/reassessing-structural-contextual-constraints-fatf-evaluations In this Research Article, the author argues that FATF Mutual Evaluations underplay governance and structural constraints, leading to unrealistic expectations of AML/CFT systems.
# RUSI : Editorial: RUSI Journal, Issue 5, 2026 https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/editorial-rusi-journal-issue-5-2026 Kevin Rowlands, Editor of the RUSI Journal, introduces 2026's Issue 5.
# RUSI : Illicit Finance in a Fragmenting World https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/illicit-finance-fragmenting-world Guest editor Kinga Redlowska introduces the special edition of the RUSI Journal.
# RUSI : Does the FATF Take a Risk-Based Approach? https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/does-fatf-take-risk-based-approach In a Professional Insight, the author questions the gap between principle and practice in the FATF’s risk-based approach to financial crime. Is the FATF undermining its legitimacy?
# RUSI : Is the Financial Action Task Force Fit for the Future? https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/financial-action-task-force-fit-future In this Research Article, the author argues that the FATF’s current enforcement model, especially greylisting, is ill suited to lower-income countries. She calls for more representative governance and a shift from sanctions tow
# RUSI : A Strong Taskforce Needs a Strong Secretariat https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/strong-taskforce-needs-strong-secretariat Drawing on the author’s experience as Executive Secretary, this Professional Insight argues that strengthening the secretariat is essential if the FATF is to survive growing geopolitical ruptures.
# RUSI : The Battery Gap: Building Industrial Strength for a Military Edge https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/commentary/battery-gap-building-industrial-strength-military-edge Going without notice until they are not there, batteries are increasingly critical to Defence, but a steady supply is far from assured.
# RUSI : Steal https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/steal Tom Keatinge reviews Steal, directed by Sam Miller and Hettie MacDonald (Amazon Studios, 2026).
# RUSI : Why FSRBs are Central to Sustaining the FATF’s Effectiveness https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/why-fsrbs-are-central-sustaining-fatfs-effectiveness The author uses this Research Article to argue that the FATF’s expanding demands risk creating ‘reform overload’ in lower-capacity jurisdictions. He shows how FATF Style Regional Bodies can act as stabiliser
# RUSI : Barentsburg: Caught Between Worlds https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/barentsburg-caught-between-worlds Photojournalist Susan Schulman travelled to the last Russian settlement on NATO territory in February 2026 to discover how the Russo-Ukrainian war has affected the Ukrainians and Russians living there.
# RUSI : Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/everybody-loves-our-dollars-how-money-laundering-won Tom Keatinge reviews Everybody Loves Our Dollars: How Money Laundering Won, by Oliver Bullough.
# RUSI : Doing Business with Criminals: Between Exclusion and Surveillance https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/doing-business-criminals-between-exclusion-and-surveillance Georgia Jones reviews Doing Business with Criminals: Between Exclusion and Surveillance, by Anton Moiseienko.
# RUSI : The Dual Burden of FATF Compliance for Developing Countries https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/dual-burden-fatf-compliance-developing-countries In this Research Article, the author shows how developing countries carry a dual burden under the FATF system: costly efforts to build effective AML/CFT regimes; and the added economic fallout of greylisting when
# RUSI : Proliferation Financing Risk Assessments https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/rusi-journal/proliferation-financing-risk-assessments A Professional Insight which argues that FATF proliferation financing risk assessments are being applied too narrowly, overly focusing on North Korea and Iran. The author suggests broader, country-led assessments that link proliferation ri
# RUSI : Cyber Campaigning: Mid-Tier States Can Leverage Civilian Cyber Power https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/commentary/cyber-campaigning-mid-tier-states-can-leverage-civilian-cyber-power States lacking vast nuclear and conventional capabilities should team with the private sector via letters of marque and digital levée en masse.
# RUSI : Unfinished Business: Effective UK Anti-Money Laundering Supervision https://www. rusi.org/explore-our-research/ publications/commentary/unfinished-business-effective-uk-anti-money-laundering-supervision The UK is overhauling how it oversees the legal and accountancy sectors for anti-money laundering, but making the new system work is the real test.