Join Dr Orly Stern and Olivia Allison for a webinar examining the gendered dynamics of Russia’s occupation of Ukrainian territories. They will consider how women participate in - and are harmed by - the illicit financial flows (IFF) underpinning the occupation economy.

The will explore how women are embedded across mid‑ and lower‑level administrative, judicial, and civil service structures, facilitatating property seizures, business expropriations, and corrupt reconstruction schemes.

A new research project will examine Russia’s use of corporate, financial, and legal structures to support covert activity.

This is an increasingly important aspect of the hybrid threats. Yet the business networks and intermediaries linked to individuals affiliated with Russian threat actors remain insufficiently mapped, limiting the ability of policymakers and analysts to understand these networks.

A new proof‑of‑concept project is assessing whether a single analytical framework can detect red flags across different forms of transnational crime, including illicit trade in legal commodities such as tobacco and pharmaceuticals, human trafficking, and drugs.

The research which asks whether the data that reveal cocaine trafficking might also expose tobacco smuggling or indicators of human trafficking.

A new SOC ACE research project is examining how governments increasingly rely on organised crime networks to carry out targeted assassinations.

The project will look at the networks, how they are managed and what policy initiatives might combat this threat

A new SOC ACE research project will examine the growing vulnerabilities of global seaports to organised crime, revealing how these critical trade gateways are increasingly targeted by criminal groups.

Join SOC ACE researchers - Dr Zahid Mumtaz and Dr Caryn Peiffer - for a webinar exploring the complex relationship between corruption and informal security welfare regimes, with Pakistan as a case study. In contexts where formal welfare systems are weak or inaccessible, people often depend on kinship ties, community structures, and patron‑client networks for social protection.

Register here or click through for more information!

In this edition, explore the latest from the SOC ACE family, including how SOC ACE research is informing UK policy, new publications on Chinese money laundering organisations, Iranian state threats, security sector reform, functionality of corruption in the Pakistan social welfare regime and the gender dynamics of Russia’s use of illicit financial flows in occupied Ukraine, and listen to event recordings and podcasts featuring SOC ACE researchers and research.

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Webinar video - the lessons learnt in Georgia, Columbia and South Africa addressing security forces involement in organised crime. They highlight political will, institutional control, and prosecutorial strength are vital to success.

Presenters say policy must be politically grounded, and include coherent leadership, oversight, and tackling entrenched interests.

Liam O’Shea et al discuss the lessons learnt in Georgia, Columbia and South Africa addressing security forces involement in organised crime. They highlight political will, institutional control, and prosecutorial strength are vital to success.

They say policy must be politically grounded, and include coherent leadership, oversight, and tackling entrenched interests.

Matthew Redhead has appeared on BBC Radio 4’s Playing Spies documentary. He was interviewed by Gordon Corera for the programme, that was broadcast on Sunday 30 November.

The fitfth in the Synthesis Paper series, The logic orf resistance: The ongoing state threats challenge from Iran, offers a fresh focus for Matthew Redhead’s previous research.

Describing the scope and scale of Iran’s activity, the paper examines Iran as a state threat actor, and offers observations for future policymakers.

New research by Dr Zahid Mumtaz and Dr Caryn Peiffer, is now available. Their paper, Conceptualising the interplay of corruption and an informal security welfare regime: Pakistan Case Study, explores the complex relationship between corruption and informal security welfare regimes. In contexts where formal welfare systems are weak or inaccessible, individuals often rely on kinship, community, and patron-client networks for social protection.

Dr Orly Stern and Olivia Allison discuss the role of women in the Russian occupation of Ukraine. They describe how women are both perpetrators and victims of the regime and the roles they play in its administration, and the large-scale corruption and expropriation.

They argue that an analysis of women’s roles should be nuanced, acknowledging their complex and varied experiences.

Kathryn Westmore is set to launch her latest paper, Flying Money, Hidden Threat: The Growth of Chinese Money Laundering Organisations, at RUSI HQ on Whitehall on 12 November 2025.

The event will start at 16:30, when she will be joined by a panel of experts to discuss the paper and explore why and how Chinese money laundering organisations (CMLOs) have become so successful - and whether the threat they pose should be considered a state threat.

In this edition, explore the latest from the SOC ACE family, including media appearances by our researchers in The Guardian and on CNN. Discover three new synthesis papers by Matthew Redhead examining state threats from China, Russia, and the Middle Powers. Learn about an exciting new research project - Organised Crime, Environmental Exploitation, and Indigenous Communities - led by Huma Haider. Plus, catch up on five new researcher articles published in leading academic journals.

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Kathryn Westmore explores the nature and dimensions of private Chinese money laundering organisations (CMLOs), examining their historical origins and considering whether they constitute a ‘state threat’.

The paper makes several recommendations for policymakers looking to respond to the issue of money laundering, including the potential value in collaborating with the Chinese authorities to tackle CMLOs.

In the second paper of the Synthesis Paper series, Matthew Redhead’s Beyond the horizon: Revisionist states, middle powers and state threats in the Global South examines the role of middle powers in state threats activity.

Describing their scope and scale of that activity, and shows how they are state threats actors and state threat target. He goes on to offer key observations for future policymakers.

In the fourth paper of the Synthesis Paper series, Matthew Redhead’s The Hidden Front: Russia's Ongoing State Threats Campaign examines the regime’s state threat practices.

Describing their scope and scale, as well as Russia’s use of third parties to carry out hostile activities, he goes on to offer key observations for future policymakers.

In the third paper of the Synthesis Paper series, Matthew Redhead’s Velvet glove, iron fist: Understanding China’s use of state threats examines the regime’s state threat practices.

Describing their scope and scale, as well as the use of the Chinese diaspora and business, Matthew characterises China as more cautious in its hostile activities. He also notes that the regime has considerable capacity for greater state threat actions.

Matthew Redhead talks about Iran and its links to recent attacks in Australia. He describes Iran’s history in such state actions, but says they indicate weakness and ‘smack of desperation’. He adds they are designed to signal a continuing ability to act, and a desire to impress Iran’s Middle Eastern supporters, but ‘we shouldn’t get overexcited about their capabilities’.