In the first in SOC ACE’s Synthesis Paper series, An absence of peace, a rumour of war; The problem of defining state threats, independent researcher Matthew Redhead looks at how state threats – hostile state acts short of warfare – are defined, and how they might frame policy making and policy implementation. The work follows on from a briefing paper and executive summary of the full research paper ‘Old bottles, new wine? The challenge of state threats’ published earlier this summer, which looked at the increasing incidence and salience of state threats, and how policy makers and policy implementers can address them.

SOC ACE researchers Dr. David H. Ucko (NATO) and Dr. Thomas A. Marks (NDU) have published ‘A Framework for Countering Organized Crime: Strategy, Planning and the Lessons of Irregular Warfare’. The monograph provides a step-by-step guide to policy makers and policy implementers, drawing upon the researchers’ extensive experience in fighting asynchronous conflicts.

SOC ACE researcher Prof David Lewis’ (Exeter) has published Russia’s occupation of South-Eastern Ukraine explaining how Russia has sought to subjugate South-Eastern Ukrainian provinces through violence, political influence and economic coercion.

 Looting Mariupol: Russia’s use of illicit finance and economic crime in occupied Ukraine has been released by SOC ACE’s Olivia Allison and Prof David Lewis. The research creates an original dataset detailing mechanisms of illicit funding and business seizures in Mariupol, arguing these may constitute criminal activities and potential war crimes.

Prof David Lewis and Dr Tena Prelec, SOC ACE project leaders on the Illicit Finance and Russian Foreign Policy: New dynamics and linkages’ project, have published ‘Corruption and Revisionism: The Role of Illicit Finance in Russian Foreign Policy in Public Integrity journal.

SOC ACE co-funded research project Developing government information and accountability systems for combating serious organised crime: Medellín demonstration project, in the World Bank’s 2025 Latin America and The Caribbean Economic Review as an exemplar case study in understanding criminal violence, and collaboration and how government actors can develop, test and scale-up counter-SOC interventions. The research is by Prof Christopher Blattman (Chicago), Prof Santiago Tobón (Universidad EAFIT) and Dr Benjamin Lessing (Chicago).

Research led by RUSI’s Eliza Lockhart on the SOC ACE project The Role of Financial Rewards for Whistleblowers in the Fight Against Economic Crime was drawn on by MPs as part of the parliamentary Westminster Hall debate on whistleblowing on 2 July. The UK’s Serious Fraud Office recently committed to progressing whistleblower incentivisation reform in its business plan for 2025-26.  

In addition, Eliza spoke at the OECD 2025 Global Integrity & Anti-Corruption Forum, discussing the legal framework needed for whistleblowers to support anti-corruption efforts. A recording of the panel discussion can be viewed here. She also spoke on a panel on ‘The World of Whistleblowing’ as part of the WhistleblowersUK’s Whistleblowing Awareness Week 2025.

SOC ACE funded researchers Dr Xu Peng, Prof Jonathan Goodhand, Dr Patrick Meehan and Naomi Yondargee have published a new blog titled, Capitalism and conflict at the margins: Why online scams flourish in Myanmar’s borderlands. This is the first output from their SOC ACE research project, “The centrality of the margins: Borderlands, illicit economies and uneven development”.

Matthew Redhead’s research on state threats has featured in a RUSI Commentary from Dr Robert Schuett (STK Powerhouse & University of Durham) and Dr Luca Trenta (Swansea University) on Covert Wars, Criminal Gangs, and the ‘New Threat’ Environment.

SOC ACE-funded researcher Dr Jessica Davis’ (RUSI) article in Insight Monitor ‘Digital blow to Tehran: Hackers disrupt Iran’s illicit finance network’ discusses cyber-attacks carried out by the Israeli-backed Gonjeshke Darande (Predatory Sparrow) hacker group on the Nobitex cryptocurrency exchange, Iran’s illicit finance network.

SOC ACE-funded research programme, The centrality of the margins: Borderlands, illicit economies and uneven development, has released its first research output.  The SOAS CIVAD team released a blog exploring the concentration and resilience of internet-scam compounds in remote, war-affected regions of Myanmar.

A new RUSI podcast titled, Strengthening the Financial Frontline on Russia Trade Sanctions, see’s SOC ACE researcher and RUSI associate fellow Olivia Allison, join RUSI’s CFS Director, Tom Keatinge, and financial crime specialist, Jinesh Amin, to discuss how banks have responded to mounting government expectations to restrict the funding and resourcing of the Russian military.