SOC ACE researchers chaired a panel on brokerage and power at the Development Studies Association's DSA2026 conference in Dublin, which ran 8-10 July 2026. It explored how brokers shape development outcomes in a fragmenting world, from coercive intermediaries to digital brokers behind scam networks.

Dr Xu Peng, a researcher on the SOC ACE project "The Centrality of the Margins," has submitted written evidence to the UK Parliament's Business and Trade Committee inquiry on China and the UK economy, examining how shell companies, opaque capital and scam-linked assets exploit UK commercial channels, and how enforcement gaps can be addressed.

New research by Dr Xu Peng (Manchester / SOAS CIVAD) shows that online scam compounds in the China–Myanmar borderlands are more than cybercrime operations. Generating billions annually, they depend on physical infrastructure, cross-border networks and fragmented governance. The study highlights how armed groups, officials and brokers sustain these operations despite periodic crackdowns. It argues that scam compounds are not isolated criminal enterprises but are embedded within wider systems of governance, infrastructure, economic development and regional power.

New research by Olivia Allison and Joshua Coyle explores how Russia’s Black Sea illicit trade both supports and originates from its war in Ukraine. They find that not only is this illicit trade in sanctioned and pillaged goods an essential part of Russia’s hybrid war to disrupt Ukrainian, European and UK institutions, but that the companies and peoples benefiting from it often have commercial and financial ties to Europe, resulting in illicitly-gained profits flowing in to Europe and the UK. The research highlights that whilst the connections identified do not violate EU, UK or international sanctions, the entanglement presents a mutual vulnerability. The paper offers insights on actions policymakers can take to restrict these networks’ operations.

SOC ACE researcher Jessica Davis joins the CANADALAND podcast episode “Is Iran Behind Attacks in Canada?” to discuss how states can use criminal networks and proxy actors to conduct violence while maintaining plausible deniability. Drawing on findings from her SOC ACE-funded project, Criminal Hands, State Ends: State-Sponsored Assassinations Using Organised Crime, Davis explores the growing nexus between organised crime, state power and national security.

New research by Huma Haider explores how transitional justice approaches can help address large-scale violence linked to organised crime. The paper argues that victim-centred mechanisms such as truth-seeking, reparations and acknowledgement can complement traditional law-enforcement responses. Drawing on international examples, it offers practical insights for policymakers and practitioners working in peacebuilding, transitional justice, counter-organised crime and law enforcement.

In Episode 21 of RUSI’s Suspicious Transactions Report podcast, Kathryn Westmore joins host, Tom Keatinge (RUSI) and Teddy Nicholson (NCA) discuss why Chinese Money Laundering services are used by organised crime groups, how money laundering networks are adapting through crypto, fintech-style tools and cross-border criminal services, and how law enforcement agencies and the regulated sector can respond.

In this new series of publications, Professor Jonathan Goodhand (SOAS, CIVAD) and Dr Patrick Meehan (University of Manchester, CIVAD) explore policy approaches and responses to paramilitaries and organised crime in war-to-peace transitions. It offers policymakers, practitioners and others working in or on contexts affected by the paramilitary-organised crime nexus with insights and tools to better understand the phenomena and move away from template-based responses towards context-specific, politically informed strategies that recognise paramilitaries as durable political actors, understand their ‘holding power’, prioritise harm reduction, and remain attentive to the distributional consequences of policy choices.

Picture credit: William Murphy

The recording of the SOC ACE webinar by Dr Zahid Mumtaz and Dr Caryn Peiffer - Intersections of Corruption and Welfare: Power, Access, and Inequality - is now available.

They discussed how, 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.

In our SOC ACE newsletter for May read about about new publications on political will and crime targeted sanctions, alongside research exploring how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is reshaping organised crime, sanctions evasion, synthetic drug markets, trafficking networks, and criminality within Russia itself.‍

We also preview our upcoming SOC ACE webinar on corruption and welfare reform in Pakistan (20 May), highlight SOC ACE research featured in European Parliamentary research and at the OECD Global Anti-Corruption & Integrity Forum, and share a new article on online scam centres in Myanmar, plus podcasts on security sector reform and kleptocracy.

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Intersections of Corruption and Welfare: Power, Access and Inequality — Upcoming SOC ACE Webinar

Wednesday 20 May 2026 | 10:00–11:00 (BST)

SOC ACE researchers Dr Zahid Mumtaz and Dr Caryn Peiffer will host a webinar exploring the complex relationship between corruption and informal security welfare regimes, drawing on their recent research and Pakistan as a case study.

Dr Alexander Kupatadze (KCL) and Prof Erica Marat (NDU) have published their latest SOC ACE research, How Russia’s Full-Scale Invasion of Ukraine Displaced Drug Trafficking Routes in Europe and Central Asia.

Their analysis shows how Synthetic drug production has moved to Kazakhstan, heroin and cocaine routes have shifted through Belarus and the Balkans, and transnational networks have rapidly adapted to sanctions evasion pathways. Within Ukraine, domestic synthetic drug production has intensified, underscoring how conflict reshapes - rather than eliminates - criminal markets across the region.

In the latest Thinking and Working Politically podcast Dr Liam O’Shea examined one of the most overlooked challenges in security sector reform: the collusion between security forces, organised crime, and political elites.

Dr Alexander Kupatadze (KCL) and Professor Erica Marat (NDU) have published new SOC ACE research, Criminal Geographies: How the Russo-Ukrainian War Reshaped Global Crime Networks. The papers examine how organised crime connected to Russia and Ukraine has been displaced, transformed or reconstituted since 2022. It shows how the displacement has been transnational, multi-directional and enduring rather than local or temporary, and also highlights the adverse consequences for Russia’s own domestic security.

A new paper reviews debates on sanctions against serious organised crime, noting rising policy attention and a major gap in understanding political will. It examines what drives governments, how targets respond and how effectiveness is shaped, highlighting a fragmented field and calling for a more cohesive research agenda.

The state threats project has entered a second phase, shifting focus to how Western states respond to hostile state activity. Building on a new conceptual framework developed in phase one, the expanded research team examines policy strategies, response patterns and perceived effectiveness to inform thinking on strengthened resilience against an increasingly complex state threat landscape.

SOC ACE researcher Jess Davis appears on the Secure Line podcast to discuss her research on State-sponsored assassinations involving organised crime actors, and her chapter in Killing in the Name of the State: State-Sponsored Assassinations in International Politics. The episode explores why states partner with criminals and the policy challenges posed by this growing state–crime nexus.

Listen to the podcast here.

RUSI’s Kathryn Westmore launched her SOC ACE paper Flying Money, Hidden Threat: Understanding the growth of Chinese Money Laundering Organisations at RUSI on Wednesday, 12 November.

Watch the event recording and keep an eye out for more research updates here.

SOC ACE researcher, Dr Liam O’Shea (SGI/RUSI), convened the Anti-Corruption & Building Integrity in Defence and Security Network to discuss how to revitalise the security sector reform (SSR) agenda in response to a changed world.

In the lead-up to the budget announcement, media, including the Financial Times, Business Matters and City AM, trailed the initiative, referring to case studies that are unique to Eliza Lockhart’s SOC ACE paper on the role of financial rewards for whistleblowers in the fight against economic crime. Her research was also cited directly in the new UK Anti-Corruption Strategy as evidence underpinning the new policy.