Centre for Statecraft & National Security

US troops attacked in Erbil as Iraqi militants consider options | The National Political considerations may keep some factions quiet during US-Iran war, experts say

Iraqi factions outside the PMF have indicated a greater willingness to escalate against US interests, while others have shown restraint, said Dr Inna Rudolf.

www.thenationalnews.com/news/mena/20...

🚨 Our READ programme has a brand-new platform! Register now at registration.read.expert 🖥️

Supported by Public Safety Canada & @gifct.bsky.social, the new site features:

📈 over 2,300 items
🔍 an OCR-enabled search to look for keywords or specific phrases
🔀 25 subject category tags

The fall of Ayatollah Khamenei He became the gravedigger of the revolution that he helped lead

📝 NEW | "In many respects, the story of Ayatollah Ali Hosseini Khamenei, is the story of the Islamic republic itself."

Read Dr Shiraz Maher's latest piece for @newstatesman1913.bsky.social: www.newstatesman.com/world/middle...

Securing the Stratosphere: Solar Geoengineering Technology in the Post Liberal World Order | King's College London This panel explores SAI as a potential arena for the expansion of climate militarism in a race to claim control or dominance of the atmosphere in the context of increasing international tensions and i...

🌍 We are delighted to be co-hosting this event next week! Join us as Danielle Young, Joanne Yao, Colleen Golja, @paulinesophieh.bsky.social and Kiran Phull explore SAI as a potential arena for the expansion of climate militarism.

📅 Wed 11 Mar, 17:00-19:00 GMT
🎟️ www.kcl.ac.uk/events/secur...

🚨 LAST CHANCE 🚨
Join us today as Dr Sandra Ricker returns to the First World War and its aftermath to examine internationalism and realpolitik from a historical perspective.

📅Tue 3 Mar, 18:30-19:45 GMT
➡️ csns.uk/event/intern...

Russia's empire of ruins From blackouts in Kherson to water shortages in Luhansk, Russia’s new imperial domains in Ukraine’s occupied territories are in turmoil.

📝 NEW | From blackouts in Kherson to water shortages in Luhansk, Russia’s new imperial domains in Ukraine’s occupied territories are in turmoil.

Read Dr Jade McGlynn's latest for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social:

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/rus...

🚨 REMINDER - NEXT WEEK🚨
Join us next week, as Dr Sandra Ricker returns to the First World War and its aftermath to examine internationalism and realpolitik from a historical perspective.

📅 Tue 3 Mar, 18:30-19:45 GMT
➡️ csns.uk/event/intern...

Join us next week, as Dr Sandra Ricker returns to the First World War and its aftermath to examine internationalism and realpolitik from a historical perspective.

📅 Tue 3 Mar, 18:30-19:45 GMT
➡️ csns.uk/event/intern...

The era of surrealpolitik In this essay, Dr. Vinicius Mariano de Carvalho challenges the claim that international politics is witnessing a return to Realpolitik. Drawing on the intellectual history of Realpolitik and the…

💡 "According to Prof John Bew, the concept of Realpolitik was an early attempt to achieve liberal Enlightenment goals in a world that did not follow enlightened liberal rules."

www.kcl.ac.uk/the-era-of-s...

Is the rules-based international order coming to an end?

Join us for a fireside chat as Lord John Alderdice and Dr Nafees Hamid explore what went wrong with the rules-based order, and what might come next.

📅 Wed 11 Mar, 17:00–18:30 GMT
📍 King's College London

🎟️ csns.uk/event/beyond...

2 ISIS Supporters Who Planned Attack on Jews in U.K. Get Life Sentences

⚖️ Dr Shiraz Maher said Mr Saadaoui was part of a cohort who became ISIS supporters at the height of its power a decade ago but who took no action at the time. They had been "reactivated" by the Gaza war, as IS saw the conflict as a way to "keep itself relevant."

🔗 www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/w...

Takaichi landslide puts Japan at crossroads: Trump ally or 'G6' anchor? PM's supermajority opens foreign policy options -- including talks with Russia

🗣️ "Being a Trump whisperer is like having an extra gear in international power politics. She has developed a good relationship with President Trump - in a context where his mercurial character leaves many constantly grasping at straws," says Prof Alessio Patalano

asia.nikkei.com/politics/jap...

The Struggle for the City—Urban Recovery and Dispossession in Mosul and Damascus A walk through the old city of Mosul, Iraq, reveals an urban landscape still scarred by the violence of war and transfigured by ongoing reconstruction. Rubble-lined narrow streets give way to half-reb...

"We not only lost our homes, we lost ourselves"

📝 NEW | Craig Larkin on how elite-led postwar reconstruction in Mosul and Damascus risks deepening issues of dispossession and social fragmentation.

Published with @merip.bsky.social and produced as part of the XCEPT research programme.

(Re) Assessing the Threat from Incel Violence: A Study of Violent Incel-Related Federal Cases in America This article reassesses claims that the Incel movement constitutes a form of terrorism by examining its ideology, patterns of violence, and empirical case data. Drawing on an original dataset of US...

📝 NEW | Dr Alexander Meleagrou-Hitchens and @seamushughes.bsky.social reassess claims that the Incel movement constitutes a form of terrorism by examining its ideology, patterns of violence, and empirical case data

➡️ www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Should Britain act more like a major or middle power? The Big Ask | No. 05.2026

🗣️ "Whether the UK is a middle power is largely irrelevant to the practice of foreign policy. The focus must be on how Britain – undoubtedly a major player in world affairs – can use its influence to shape the international environment," says Andrew Ehrhardt

www.britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-big-as...

Why Britain can’t keep dodging the Shamima Begum question Josh Baker has spent years covering the former Isis bride’s case and has met her in a Syrian camp. He argues that her home country faces a moment of truth

👨‍👩‍👧 "Research from CSNS argues that the alternative — leaving large numbers of Isis-linked people in unstable camps where extremist networks continue to operate — risks sustaining environments that foster further radicalisation and long-term security threats."

www.thetimes.com/uk/politics/...

Behind China’s race to build aircraft-carriers It will soon have more carriers in the Pacific than America

🗣️ Whether China can make the most of these new vessels remains an open question for many experts. To be considered effective, a carrier needs to be able to launch at least 100 sorties a day, Prof Alessio Patalano tells @economist.com

www.economist.com/china/2026/0...

Visions of a new Syria Efforts to craft a new identity for Syria will mean little if its government cannot get a grip on spiralling sectarian violence.

📝 NEW | Last December, Dr Shiraz Maher spent a fortnight in Syria, observing celebrations to mark the first year since the country’s liberation

He's now written up his experience for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social

🔗 engelsbergideas.com/notebook/vis...

🎙️ NEW | Dr Nils Mallock joins Dr Rajan Basra on the @warstudieskcl.bsky.social podcast to discuss his research on the expansion of Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

This episode was produced as part of the XCEPT research programme.

☁️ bit.ly/4a8Wr3B
🟢 bit.ly/4c815S3
🍎 bit.ly/4qkFucB

Professor Alessio Patalano was featured on BBC News, breaking down Japan-China relations and what it really means for international relations (and Panda Diplomacy!)

YouTube video by UnHerd John Bew: The Davos world is over

🗣️ Last week, Prof John Bew gave an extensive interview to @unherd.com's Freddie Sayers

You can now tune in to their conversation about the friction caused by the Trump administration’s push to acquire Greenland and the resulting panic within the Western alliance

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrGn...

Thresholds of Survival: The Resistance in Occupied Ukraine Ukrainian citizens continue their efforts to resist and undermine Russia's aggressive efforts to consolidate control over the occupied territories in Ukraine's southern and eastern regions.

📝 In a new report for @csis.org, Dr Jade McGlynn examines recent developments in Ukraine’s temporarily occupied territories. She analyses how resistance has evolved to survive, relying on compartmentation and trust, and prioritising survivability over visibility

www.csis.org/analysis/thr...

The Moscow Oblast School Stabbing: Digital Rehearsal, Gaming Communities, and Youth Pathways to Violence - GNET

In our latest Insight, Harrison Pates from @csns-uk.bsky.social discusses the online activity and manifesto of the Moscow Oblast School attacker to unpack the motivations and ideological drivers behind the event.

Read his analysis below:

Should Britain consider independent actions to seize sanctioned tankers? The Big Ask | No. 02.2026

"The UK has probably considered independent action, but political leaders have also probably considered that working with others is a more desirable option – which does not preclude, in the future, to consider options to go alone," says Prof Alessio Patalano

www.britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-big-as...

The Guardian view on the new global disorder: Britain and Europe must find their own path | Editorial Editorial: Donald Trump’s Venezuela policy confirms he has no time for rules or process. America’s allies must find new ways to guarantee their own interests

🗣️ "As Prof Bew says, while we mourn the disintegration of the rules-based order, and decry the mercantilism now dominating the west’s most dynamic economy, the old world and its assumptions are not coming back any time soon."

🔗 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Is the Islamic Republic on borrowed time? The troubled history of the Arab Spring sheds light on the fate of Iran’s uprising. It explains why the Islamic Republic continues to survive waves of mass protest, yet may ultimately be approaching a...

📝 NEW | "A neutered and boxed-in Iran consumed by internal affairs serves the Gulf perfectly."

In his latest essay for @engelsbergideas.bsky.social, Dr Shiraz Maher examines the fate of Iran's uprising in light of the troubled history of the Arab Spring

engelsbergideas.com/essays/is-th...

Interview with John Bew - adviser to four Prime Ministers On Whitehall, Ukraine, Trump and the global challenges facing Britain

🗣️ Just before the holidays, @ldfreedman.bsky.social and @samfr.bsky.social interviewed Prof John Bew about his experience in government and the development of British foreign policy

Their captivating conversation is now available via Substack (free to read)

samf.substack.com/p/interview-...

Italy and Japan seek a shared path. A conversation with Prof. Patalano - Decode39 According to Alessio Patalano (King’s College), Italy and Japan occupy a “complementary” position in their respective strategic regions and share a form of political leadership capable of shaping secu...

Italy and Japan seek a shared path. A conversation with Prof Patalano.

Italy and Japan occupy complementary positions, sharing a form of political leadership capable of shaping today’s security debates in Europe and Indo-Pacific.

🔗Read more: decode39.com/13105/italy-...

🚢 We are delighted to announce that we will be co-hosting a seminar with the Research Institute for Peace and Security. Join to hear our speakers, including @sakakialexandra.bsky.social, discuss current maritime security challenges in East Asia!

📍 King's College London
➡️ csns.uk/event/intern...

🧑‍🎓 Calling all current @warstudieskcl.bsky.social students!

Our next diplomacy workshop with Prof Ronald Barston is taking place next week. More info and registration on link below 👇

📅 Wed 21 Jan, 13:00-15:00 GMT
📍 King's College London

www.kcl.ac.uk/events/docum...