State threats project enters phase two - ‘Weathering the storm? Policy responses to state threats’

A new phase of Matthew Redhead’s (RUSI) work on state threats has launched, now in collaboration with Eliza Lockhart (RUSI), titled ‘Weathering the storm? Policy responses to state threats’

Phase one of the retitled wider project, ‘State Threats: Understanding and responding to the new landscape of hostile state activity’, examined how terms such as state threats, hostile state activity, and hybrid or grey‑zone actions are used, and developed a clearer conceptual framework to define and analyse these activities.

Building on these findings, this second phase of research focuses on how Western states are responding to the challenge of state threats. It seeks to provide a more detailed understanding of Western strategies and policies, map out how, when and why such responses are applied, and identify whether there are broad patterns and ‘styles’ in approaches to hostile actions. Through review of academic and grey literature, as well as first-hand interviews, the research will offer insights for policymakers and practitioners on the perceived effectiveness of the range of policy response options.   

To find publications from the first phase of research on the scale, scope and character of state threats, how revisionist and middle-power states are deploying them and updates on how Matthew and Eliza’s research is informing debate, policy and practice, visit the project page here.