Why I love declassified government docs, reason #51

12‑month fixed‑term fellowship for early‑career historians in Australian history at the University of Sydney starting 2027. Historians of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, and scholars working in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander history, are especially encouraged to apply.

New essay, forthcoming in the inaugural issue of the Armenian Journal of International Law and already available on SSRN: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... Comments welcome!

I’m excited to share that my forthcoming book now has a website and a publication date! You can find out more and even pre-order here: press.georgetown.edu/Book/Blind-T...

Congratulations to our colleague @guttmannaviva.bsky.social whose book Operation Wrath of God has been shortlisted for the Kjetil Hatlebrekke Memorial Book Prize, awarded for research in global intelligence studies by King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence kcsi.uk/kjetil-hatle...

A great permanent job at the University of Glasgow: Lecturer in the History of Intelligence and International Relations, post-1850

✍🏼 The 2025 Kjetil Hatlebrekke Memorial Book Prize Shortlist is here!

🔊 📖 We are delighted to share @ronanmainprize.bsky.social's review of @jrogg.bsky.social's 'The Spy and the State.' Mainprize argues that 'Rogg's book will likely become a key reference for the spy, the state, and the scholar.' 📖 Read the review here ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

Two more days left to get your submissions in for the SIH Annual Conference! Submit proposals by March 23. @kcsi.uk

Lecturer in Medieval & Early Modern History The School of History at the ANU seeks to appoint a Lecturer in History. Applicants working at the forefront of gender history between the 12th & 18th centuries, and on regions beyond Europe & Australia, are encouraged to apply. Applications due 19 April.

🚨 New publication Very happy to share that my article in @globcon.bsky.social has now been published open access. You can read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S204...

This. It takes so much more effort and time to mark students’ work and assess journal submissions that have been written/heavily edited by AI

Some interesting detail here about the intelligence picture (esp. SIGINT) in the run-up to the assassination. We’ll be talking about surveillance and algorithms in tomorrow’s seminar on my secrecy & accountability module.

Just under 2 weeks left to get your submissions in for SIH’s 2026 conference, hosted at King’s College London with the 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴’𝘀 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 kcsi.uk and the 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 @warstudieskcl.bsky.social 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 15, send proposals to: [email protected]

REVIEW: Monica Robbins compares the kind of research academics do in the university with "strategic intelligence analysis [which is] is inherently messy, high-stakes, and subject to rapidly changing circumstances and incomplete information."

Interesting story in today's Guardian about intelligence in the lead up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int... For more on this, see our Special Issue on intelligence and the Ukraine War, published in Feb 2022. www.tandfonline.com/toc/fint20/3...

I’m super excited to share the cover of my new book “Blind Trust: Secrecy, Scandal and intelligence Accountability in Cold War Australia”! Coming out soon with @georgetownup.bsky.social

This ⬇️ We really appreciate the hard work of all the researchers, peer reviewers and book reviewers that make each issue possible. Thank you!

🕵️‍♀️ Last chance to nominate #intelligence books for the Polly Corrigan and Kjetil Hatlebrekke Book Prizes. 🤩

Out Monday! Sir Lawrence Freedman called it "a fascinating history". Never been more topical. How social scientists invented strategic intelligence analysis in 1950 and re-established CIA's reputation. Order now on Amazon Books amazon.com/Intelligence-I…

The National Archives of Australia have declassified federal Cabinet documents for 2005 today. A selection have been digitised. www.naa.gov.au/explore-coll...

This ⬇️ Please do get in touch with the book review editor of a journal in your field if you have a new book for review or if you’d like to review a particular book. I’m always happy to hear about new releases and will get you a review copy if you want to review something for @jpict.bsky.social

In the midst of everything going on this week, I wrote a thing for the Australian Policy & History blog on the ongoing impact of James Bond, even in Australia:

“Arrestingly well-researched and rich in biographical detail, this remarkable book reveals that America’s top spies believed in social science and hoped universities could rescue the early CIA from intelligence failure.” —Richard Aldrich, author of GCHQ: The Uncensored Story.

In the midst of everything going on this week, I wrote a thing for the Australian Policy & History blog on the ongoing impact of James Bond, even in Australia:

Grab your copy of one of 50 free eprints of my review of Riehle's book 'Counter-intelligence at its core'. So useful in fact, it informed my recent work redesigning the Admiralty Code (NATO Code)! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/KMJU2...

This is the CIA daily briefing for US President Johnson after the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming on 17 December, 1967. www.cia.gov/readingroom/...

We are also looking for a reviewer for this really interesting book for @jpict.bsky.social if anyone is interested!

Mr Gideon Haigh on why the ongoing, incompetent and dull-witted enshittification of the State Library of Victoria is so heartbreaking, so stupid, and so dangerous. Please share. www.cricketetal.com/p/an-institu...

🚨 Competition! There is still time to win 1 of 3 copies of The President’s Kill List: Assassination and US Foreign Policy since 1945 by Luca Trenta. You can enter here:

🎉 Next up in our 20th bday book 📖, we have another enormously popular 🚨 OPEN ACCESS 🚨 article by @tonyingesson.bsky.social and Magnus Andersson, who examined numbers stations and radio 📻 in the 21st century in "Clandestine communications in cyber-denied environments" ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

SLV is a beautiful, useful and very busy research space, and I use it regularly. I hope that they rethink these cuts & recognise that the library is so much more than a tourist destination.

Charles Darwin University is looking for a Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges and Heritage, which will suit an anthropologist or archaeologist with a focus on Australia. Continuing Full Time, Teaching Focused, Level A/B A$76,604 – A$137,659 pa Details here: www.cdu.edu.au/careers-cdu

💡Moving on to some of our most popular intel articles, first up we have James Ramsey and Andrew Macpherson, who asked "Is the academy equipping tomorrow’s intelligence professionals to analyze data-centric threats?" Read it here & in our upcoming 20th bday collection! 🎉 ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

'The current Labour government does make considerable use of the NSC, but has made some structural changes which have created more distance between policymakers and the intelligence agencies' writes @drceliap-v.bsky.social in latest RUSI Commentary.

We are hiring! @mqsois.bsky.social is currently recruiting a full time, ongoing Lecturer Level B in Cyber Security and Cyber Intelligence. This is a Teaching & Leadership position and could be a great opportunity for an early career academic. More info here: www.seek.com.au/job/88616507

I’m really excited to be speaking as part of a panel on the Politics of Intelligence at APSA 2025 with the very talented @andrewzammit.bsky.social and David Schaefer. I’ll be presenting my research with Brian Cuddy on the politics of the Hope RCIS on Wednesday afternoon - come past if you can!

We are hiring! @mqsois.bsky.social is currently recruiting a full time, ongoing Lecturer Level B in Cyber Security and Cyber Intelligence. This is a Teaching & Leadership position and could be a great opportunity for an early career academic. More info here: www.seek.com.au/job/88616507

Happy to share my new book 'Quiet Protest: A New History of Activism during the Vietnam War', which will be published by UNSW Press on 1 April 2026.

Research Assistant (War Studies) King's College London - School of Security Studies School Office #skystorians 🗃️www.jobs.ac.uk/job/DPK464/r...

I’d be keen to hear others thoughts on this, it’s harder to find interesting research lately… I’m also wondering if others would like an email if cited in a recently published paper, or if it’d be inbox spam & email workload? Would it depend on career stage?

One of the things I’ve loved most about my time at @mqsois.bsky.social has been teaching, so I’m really pleased and happy to share that I received a Faculty of Arts Early Career Teaching Award today (!!)

Can't wait for our Wednesday, Nov 19, discussion with @tim-weiner.bsky.social about his super new book, "The Mission." This is going to be good! @lucatrenta.bsky.social @chekistmonitor.bsky.social @socintelhist.bsky.social .

New blog post - Public NIC statements on Australia’s threat environment: andrewzammit.org/2025/11/07/p...

It's been a big week of news for the Australian intelligence community! 🕵 Full links below, but we've seen addresses from three agency heads in the space of one week - ASIO's Mike Burgess, ACIC's Heather Cook, and AGO's Kathryn McMullan. Get your eyes and ears around it 🧵

Have you caught up with our recent 'Upheaval' series? Here's @andrewzammit.bsky.social on 'Countering violent extremism research and practice in a time of upheaval: the FBI’s Beyond Belief handbook.' It is open access & free to read here ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

🚨MISRG is excited to announce that renowned intel scholar John Blaxland has agreed to be our 2025 MQ Intelligence Studies Research Group Speaker! John will be "Revealing Secrets" about the 5👁️ intel sharing relationship at 4pm Sydney time Mon 3 Nov on campus @mqsois.bsky.social & via Zoom Details ⬇️

If you have a recently published book or would like to review a new release that looks at policing/criminology, intelligence studies, or CT/CVE, get in touch. We'd love to hear from you!

We are very pleased to be able to share some of our recently published book reviews with you all! First up, Niha Pandey reviews Amanda Chisholm's "powerful and nuanced" book 'The Gendered and Colonial Lives of Gurkhas in Private Security' from @edinburghup.bsky.social ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

📖 Learn more about the Polly Corrigan Book Prize here: kcsi.uk/polly-corrig... 👉🏼 Submit a nomination for the prize here: tinyurl.com/corriganbook...