RUSI was founded in 1831. Its original mission was to study naval and military science, what Clausewitz called the 'art of war'. It still does so: developments in military doctrine, defence management and defence procurement remain central elements in the Institute's work. In recent years RUSI has broadened its scope of interest to include all issues of defence and security, amongst others terrorism and the ideologies that foster it, as well as the challenges that we face from other human-made or human-assisted threats and from natural disasters. As part of these activities RUSI is running a programme to explore the security implications of climate change.

The Institute has three main activities:
Research: RUSI undertakes rigorous, expert and objective analysis of current trends and developments, both for the Institute's own publications and events and commissioned privately for clients.
Events: RUSI produces a comprehensive programme of conferences, seminars, workshops and talks by leading experts designed to provide insight and foster debate among practitioners, policy makers and analysts.
Publications: RUSI publishes a varied collection of periodicals that are timely, innovative and relevant, designed to meet the needs of members and others.

For more information, please see http://www.rusi.org