It’s early in the academic year, but I may have peaked. Yesterday, I led on the delivery of a new @warstudieskcl.bsky.social course, Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives, alongside Emergent Risk International. Engaging F2F with global business leaders was informative & huge fun. @kcsi.uk

Learned a lot yesterday evening talking about challenges facing intelligence practitioners (state & private) to the @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social Business School Executive MBA class. Great to engage with highly impressive and vastly experienced business leaders. @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

It’s early in the academic year, but I may have peaked. Yesterday, I led on the delivery of a new @warstudieskcl.bsky.social course, Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives, alongside Emergent Risk International. Engaging F2F with global business leaders was informative & huge fun. @kcsi.uk

Received a nice surprise in the post today, the amazing new @georgetownup.bsky.social volume on Covert Action edited by the dream team of @magslong.bsky.social, Genevive Lester, @markstout.bsky.social, @dvanp.bsky.social & @rorycormac.bsky.social. Stellar contributors, though Chp 9 seems suspect😉

Privileged today to be invited to address the current senior leadership cadre at India’s National Defence College on intel in South Asia & as a determinant in foreign policymaking. Thks Maj Gen Samath Nagar & Air Marshal Hardeep Bains (Commandant) for asking me to engage with the latest NDC cohort.

Thks to praveenswami.bsky.social for noting my work on intelligence ties between India & the US in his excellent article in The Print. Agree that India-US intel ties will weather the latest squall btwn Delhi and Washington. theprint-in.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/theprint... @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

Honored to see my review of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's Spying in South Asia on this week's #ScholarSunday thread. @americanstudier.bsky.social every week I love seeing you highlight scholars and sharing word about their work. Thank you and please keep it up! contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

ICYMI: I wrote a review of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's excellent @universitypress.cambridge.org book Spying in South Asia for @contingent-mag.bsky.social Here's a 🧵 about how the review came together and what was left on the cutting room floor. contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

Thks to TheWire.in for noting some of my recent work on UK & US covert Cold War interventions in Kerala m.thewire.in/article/hist... With elections due in Kerala next year its timely to revisit the issue of electoral interference @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk @universitypress.cambridge.org

During the Cold War, the US, UK, and USSR all had covert operations in India. Were their efforts successful? No. Were their efforts secret? Definitely no. Read more about these covert operations, only in @contingent-mag.bsky.social #india #security contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

Dr @paulmcgarr.bsky.social draws on newly declassified British documents to reveal how, during the #ColdWar, India’s Congress government, the CIA & British intelligence took covert actions to undermine the Communist Party of India in #Kerala in the late 1950s. Read more: bit.ly/3JjPwe6

The latest @contingent-mag.bsky.social essay is my review of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's excellent book, Spying in South Asia @universitypress.cambridge.org The book is a MUST READ especially for @shafrhistorians.bsky.social #india #coldwar #skystorians contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

Intelligence history being put to good use in The Print India to contextualise recent "developments" in US relations with India and Pakistan. Appreciate the mention 🙏 theprint.in/opinion/secu... @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk @universitypress.cambridge.org

Thks to @indianexpress.com for carrying a piece I wrote on newly declassified British intelligence files that reveal covert collaboration btw India & the UK in Cold War Kerala. The article is available here 👇 indianexpress.com/article/opin... @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk

A review of Spying in South is out by @marcus1984.bsky.social in @contingent-mag.bsky.social contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t.... Mark is a superb scholar & his critique is on point. If you don't read Contingent at present, you should. It's a non-profit history mag doing amazing work. Take a look

Hugely grateful to @arjm5184.bsky.social for his very generous & insightful review of Spying in South Asia in @diplomatichistory.bsky.social. Andrew's meticulous assessment neatly captures the book's essence 🙏https://academic.oup.com/dh/advance-article/doi/10.1093/dh/dhaf052/8226034?searchresult=1

Spoke to @telegraphnews.bsky.social on the hiring & firing of US officials by the Trump admin. The piece covers the decision not to appoint Tom Sylvester as the next CIA station chief in London. In short, politicising intelligence is a VERY bad idea. Take a look👇 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...

Grateful to Zach Constantino at sspga.ubc.ca for a very generous review of Spying in South Asia cambridge.org/9781108843676 in @pacificaffairs.bsky.social. Humbled that an intelligence practitioner of Zach's experience offered encouraging words on the book. See pacificaffairs.ubc.ca/book-reviews...

Great new article on Cold War Japan from King's War Studies PhD candidiate, Satoshi Yoda. Well worth a read. kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

Humbled by a very kind review of Spying in South Asia cambridge.org/9781108843676 in India's World. Delighted the review appeared in a publication that, under the expert leadership of Happymon Jacob & Raja C Mohan, is becoming the go to outlet for expert commentary on India's international affairs.

Very kind review of Spying in South Asia www.cambridge.org/9781108843676 by Sumit Ganguly in Journal of Cold War Studies. Humbled Sumit states, "McGarr masterfully traces the lineage of the IB & discusses in extensive detail how it...work[ed] with British intelligence after India’s independence." 🙏

Spying in South Asia is now on sale via the CUP bookstore cambridgebookshop.co.uk/products/sale-… A steal at £22. Who wouldn’t want to read more about the alcoholic CIA station chief who came down to earth with a bang on finding that he hadn’t, in fact, discovered the secret of unpowered flight. 😬

Thanks to Amb SD Muni for noting Spying in South Asia cambridge.org/9781108843676 in @hindustan-times.bsky.social re the Emergency & Indira Gandhi's complex relations with the CIA. For more on intelligence & South Asian statecraft👇 @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk @universitypress.cambridge.org

The Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives course equips you with the skills to navigate complex geopolitical challenges, manage risks & make strategic decisions that drive business success. 🗓️ 10 Sept 2025 🔗Discounts available until 31 July www.kcl.ac.uk/short-course...

Delighted that Spying in South Asia www.cambridge.org/9781108843676 has been named @iajournal.bsky.social book of the week. Thanks to @sandbaggerone.bsky.social for a generous review. @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kingsindiainst.bsky.social @cambridgeup.bsky.social

“…readable, richly researched, and persuasive…” - from a CIA officer’s review of “Spying in South Asia by @paulmcgarr.bsky.social. www.cia.gov/resources/cs...

Thanks to Prateek Joshi for a fantastic discussion on Spying in South Asia www.cambridge.org/9781108843676 on the Jan Man Gan podcast. Give the podcast a listen 👇 www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNEa... @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kingsindiainst.bsky.social @cambridgeup.bsky.social

Stimulating day listening (& talking) to a stellar group of academics, journalists, & practitioners on India’s place in the world. Thanks to Shruti Kapila and Tarika Khattar for hosting an amazing event @corpusCambridge.bsky.social Superb keynote on Indian diplomacy delivered by Shivshankar Menon

🚨🎙️Join us (online) on 27 May at 6pm for a new conference on #intelligence with @paulmcgarr.bsky.social As tensions arise between #India and #Pakistan, there is. no better place to be on the 27th to dig into the history of Indian intelligence 🇮🇳 Registration here 👇 www.irsem.fr/agenda/cycle...

Grateful to the @warstudieskcl.bsky.social amazing Comms team for allowing me on to the War Studies podcast to talk intelligence outside the Anglosphere. Give the podcast a listen👇 soundcloud.com/warstudies/s... @kcsi.uk @dsdkings.bsky.social @kingsindiainst.bsky.social @cambridgeup.bsky.social

Thanks to KCSI Insights for carrying this piece on what was, & wasn’t, in the final release of JFK assassination files. Spoiler alert, there was nothing novel on Kennedy’s death. But for intel historians, there is plenty of great new material on US covert action in the Global South, India included.

Do join me and colleagues at IRSEM, Paris, on 27th May, at 5 pm UK Time (6 pm in Paris), to discuss intelligence beyond the Anglosphere. Registration link for Zoom 👇 docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @dsdkings.bsky.social @kingsindiainst.bsky.social

Thanks to @sandbaggerone.bsky.social for reviewing Spying in South Asia www.cambridge.org/9781108843676 in @iajournal.bsky.social. "A major contribution to Cold War history & to the broader understanding of intelligence liaison." See👇 doi.org/10.1093/ia/i... @kcsi.uk @cambridgeup.bsky.social

Extremely excited to be contributing to what promises to be a very special event examining India's place, past and present, in the global world order. Come and join us at @corpuscambridge.bsky.social in May. Register 👇 www.eventbrite.com/e/india-and-...

Thanks to @magslong.bsky.social & the editorial team for delivering an impressive & important book that takes covert action (finally 🙏) beyond a dominant anglopshere & into interesting spaces (geographically & thematically). I've heard the India chaper is pretty good 😉 And the 📘is out in time for🎄

Brilliant news that this is already out. My first podcast as host for National Security books on the @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social. It's a fascinating conversation with @paulmcgarr.bsky.social on India's Cold War, its intelligence services, and their evolution from independence to the present.

Great to be on @lucatrenta.bsky.social's new national security podcast for @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social. Talked intelligence history, covert action in the Global South, & state-sponsored assassinations. Have a listen👇 newbooksnetwork.com/spying-in-so... @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

🚨Publication alert🚨Our latest Insights piece - analysis of Signal-gate - by David Gioe and Tony Manganello is out now: kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

🎙️Join Dr @paulmcgarr.bsky.social as he dives into the secretive world of espionage.🕵️‍♂️ From Trump’s clashes with the FBI to China’s spy network and the transformation of spying through smartphones—Dr McGarr unravels it all! 🎧Listen now: bit.ly/4lxDZ9D

Had a 👍 time @soasuni.bsky.social talking to the Inspire Us Podcast on intelligence beyond the anglosphere. We covered 🇮🇳 🇨🇳 and 🇬🇧 🇺🇸covert interventions in the global South. Give us a👂 in youtu.be/XeG5T2fmGps @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @cambridgeup.bsky.social

Thanks, @lucatrenta.bsky.social. Really looking forward to discussing intelligence and covert action later this week. What an opportune time to do so given the recent JFK assassination records disclosures of historic CIA activity in the global South. @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

Had a great time at @soasuni.bsky.social this week with amazing hosts Alex & Dara, recording an episode of the Inspire US Podcast on intelligence in the global South. Airing soon. Give these guys a listen. Amazing content & seriously impressive guests. Enterprising SOAS students doing 🔥work 👏👏👏

Great to see India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, talk today on the economic opportunities & threats facing Delhi as the centenary of independence nears in 2047. Hope 🇬🇧 govt 👂🇮🇳 emphasis on ⬆️ student mobility in any FTA. @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social @kcsi.uk

Great article just published by @kcsi.uk Insights from Thea Gioe on the pressing importance of effectively utilising strategic intelligence in the corporate world kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

Thanks to CIA for a 👍 review of www.cambridge.org/9781108843676. 😁 the book was judged "richly researched & persuasive" & "the definitive volume on the period & its aftereffects". 🙏 See 👇 www.cia.gov/resources/cs... @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @dsdkings.bsky.social @cambridgeup.bsky.social

🚨Publication alert 🚨Our latest Insights contribution by Dr Huw Dylan - an obituary of Oleg Gordievsky - is now live! kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

Great to see Alex Bomberg speak to @kcsi.uk tonight on commercial intelligence. Candid commentary on the challenges faced by private intelligence in a rapidly evolving global threat environment. Great questions from an engaged audience on this crucial & understudied field @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

🎙️ In our latest podcast, @paulmcgarr.bsky.social discusses intelligence dynamics between the West and #India, and how democratic aspirations in the #GlobalSouth were often dismissed by Western intelligence during the #ColdWar. 🎧 Listen to it now: 👉 tinyurl.com/yc2zyexa

🌍Ready to lead in a complex world? Join the Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives course and gain skills to navigate geopolitical risks, enhance decision-making & more! 🗓️ 13 May 2025 | 📍King's College London 🔗Don’t miss out – Apply by 6 May bit.ly/422qNC2

KCSI Seminars are in full swing in March. This time we have another amazing talk on commercial espionage by Alex Bomberg. 'KCSI Sem­i­nar: Com­mer­cial Espi­onage: The Aca­d­e­m­ic The­o­ries and the Truth' 📅17 March 2025, 18:30 📍Strand Campus, London (in-person only) kcsi.uk/events/kcsi-...