Alex Blackwell
@alexblackwell.bsky.social
đ€ 752
đ„ 54
đ 1160
b9a45e5942ca3940f7a811fc93e4ffd0
pinned post!
âIn every operation there is an above the line and a below the line. Above the line is what you do by the book. Below the line is how you do the job.â â John le CarrĂ© (âA Perfect Spyâ)
12 months ago
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Spymaster: The Memoirs of Gordon M. Stewart, CIA Station Chief in Cold War Germany
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/3111...
about 8 hours ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Veiled intentions: Hamasâs strategic deception and intelligence success on 7 October 2023
On 7 October 2023, Hamas dealt a severe blow to Israelâs deterrence by launching a multi-front incursion that killed more than a thousand Israelis and captured hundreds. Prevailing commentary frame...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2576903
4 days ago
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âThe Persian: A Novelâ by David McCloskey
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1324...
6 days ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0885...
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The Emergence of Cognitive Intelligence (COGINT) as a New Military Intelligence Collection Discipline
While warfare has always had a cognitive dimension, the exponential expansion of digital information combined with the deliberate targeting and exploitation of adversary perceptual and cognitive-pr...
https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2025.2571497
17 days ago
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If SPG was operating somewhere where a heist occurred, Iâm sure they would have to assure HQS: Hey, it wasnât us.
www.nytimes.com/interactive/...
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How the Louvre Jewelry Heist Unfolded
Thieves used a truck-mounted ladder to break into the Louvre and steal items of âincalculableâ value.
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2025/10/20/world/europe/louvre-robbery-jewelry-heist-photos-maps.html
22 days ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Invisible bodies of war: British servicewomen on covert operations in Northern Ireland
Women were employed to operate covertly with British security forces and paramilitary organisations during the Troubles in Northern Ireland (1968â1998). However, the experiences and legacies of Bri...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2565939
23 days ago
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At NSA elegant cryptanalysis is admired and honored. But you know whatâs better? CIAâs SPG doing a black bag job and stealing the cryptographic keys.
www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/s...
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A C.I.A. Secret Kept for 35 Years Is Found in the Smithsonianâs Vault
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/16/science/kryptos-cia-solution-sanborn-auction.html
26 days ago
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A new open access paper.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Communicating digitally with users. Three trade-offs for intelligence organizations
Most private and public sector organizations, including intelligence services, now pursue digital transformation in one form or another. This article discusses what implications digital transformat...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2565954
about 1 month ago
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A new open access paper.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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The journey of digital transformation in intelligence organizations
This introduction to the special issue explores how digital technologies are reshaping intelligence organizations. It frames digital transformation not as a linear process but as a complex journey ...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2565943
about 1 month ago
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âProgress doesn't come from early risers â progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things.â â Robert A. Heinlein (âTime Enough for Loveâ)
about 1 month ago
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The new hot dog machine at CIA HQS?
add a skeleton here at some point
about 1 month ago
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âWe wrap up with an overview of how Fiat-Shamir is used in post-quantum cryptography and in blockchains.â
doi.org/10.1080/0161...
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The Fiat-Shamir: zero(-knowledge) to signature in sixty minutes (of class time)
Many of the new quantum-resistant digital signature algorithms being evaluated and standardized by NIST rely on the Fiat-Shamir transform for security. This transformation takes a zero-knowledge (o...
https://doi.org/10.1080/01611194.2025.2547602
about 1 month ago
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âThe arithmetic correlation or âwith-carryâ correlation is an analog of the classical correlation of sequences.â
doi.org/10.1080/0161...
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Notes about imbalance and arithmetic autocorrelation of N-ary half-l-sequences
In this paper, we study the imbalance of N-ary half-l-sequences as well as their arithmetic autocorrelation. The arithmetic correlation or âwith-carryâ correlation is an analog of the classical cor...
https://doi.org/10.1080/01611194.2025.2539088
about 1 month ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Overcoming Anglocentrism in covert action scholarship
This study argues that Anglocentrism in the study of covert action is driven by factors unique to the discipline, requiring novel mitigations which differ from those already recommended for wider i...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2561505
about 1 month ago
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Tulsi ends Global Trends.
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/u...
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Gabbard Ends Intelligence Report on Future Threats to U.S.
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/26/us/politics/gabbard-intelligence-report-cancellation.html
about 2 months ago
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Philip Roth said Le CarrĂ©âs âA Perfect Spyâ was âthe best English novel since the war.â
www.wsj.com/arts-culture...
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Five Best: Cold War Thrillers
Selected by Charlie English, the author of âThe CIA Book Club.â
https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/books/five-best-cold-war-thrillers-0038e86c
about 2 months ago
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The unclassified version of the latest issue of CIAâs Studies in Intelligence (Volume 69, Number 3, September 2025) is now available for download at
www.cia.gov/resources/cs...
about 2 months ago
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Now there is peer-reviewed work concluding that, yes, the Kansas City Chiefs do get favorable treatment from the refs.
doi.org/10.1111/fire...
2 months ago
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âInside its headquarters in Langley, Virginia, the CIA is moving resources and personnel to amp up counter-cartel efforts, including through the creation of a new Americas and Counternarcotics Mission CenterâŠâ
www.reuters.com/investigatio...
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Inside the CIAâs secret fight against Mexicoâs drug cartels
Working with special Mexican army and navy units, the CIA for years has been running covert operations to hunt down Mexicoâs most-wanted narcos, a Reuters investigation finds. Among the captures: a son of cartel chief JoaquĂn âEl Chapoâ GuzmĂĄn.
https://www.reuters.com/investigations/inside-cias-secret-fight-against-mexicos-drug-cartels-2025-09-10/
2 months ago
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I guess Trumpâs social media post yesterday gave Israel the green light.
www.reuters.com/world/middle...
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Israel targets Hamas leadership in military strikes on Qatar, officials say
Israel launched an audacious attack on Hamas leaders in Qatar on Tuesday, expanding its military actions that have ranged across the Middle East to include the Gulf Arab state where the Palestinian Islamist group has long had its political base.
https://www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/israel-targets-hamas-leadership-military-strikes-qatar-officials-say-2025-09-09/
2 months ago
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ââŠspy films have a potential constitutive influence on US intelligence personnel, partially shaping attitudes and motivated biases that are hard to break.â
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Of harpies and sirens: the depiction of women in spy films and the construction of the feminine
Although there have been some recent inroads into analysing the potential role of culture in intelligence organizations and operations, intelligence studies has mostly kept popular culture at armâs...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2552082
2 months ago
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âA North Korean boat appeared out of the dark. Flashlights from the bow swept over the water. Fearing that they had been spotted, the SEALs opened fire. Within seconds, everyone on the North Korean boat was dead.â
www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/u...
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How a Top Secret SEAL Team 6 Mission Into North Korea Fell Apart
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/09/05/us/navy-seal-north-korea-trump-2019.html
2 months ago
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The latest installment in Mick Herronâs Slough House series.
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1641...
2 months ago
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âIn summer 1974, Cyprus heated up a decade after a previous clash. Years of unstable calm erupted into a sudden flashpoint as two NATO allies fought for control of the island. And American satellites were watching from overhead.â
www.thespacereview.com/article/5049/1
2 months ago
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âI saw one of his heads as if it had been mortally wounded, and his deadly wound was healed. And all the world marveled and followed the beast.â â Revelation 13:3
2 months ago
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â[A returned veteran told me that] he woke up one night and noticed a red beam; thinking it was a laser, he rolled out of bed and reached for a weapon. The beam was his stereo's power light.â â Peter Maass (âA Bulletproof Mindâ)
2 months ago
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Portuguese President Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa accuses Trump of being a Russian asset. Hey,
@mpolymer1.bsky.social
, werenât you just in Portugal? ;-)
www.rtp.pt/noticias/mun...
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Marcelo diz que Donald Trump "Ă© um ativo russo"
O presidente da RepĂșblica considera que, no contexto da guerra da UcrĂąnia, Donald Trump, "o lĂder mĂĄximo da maior superpotĂȘncia do mundo" tem funcionado como "um ativo russo": "A nova liderança norte-...
https://www.rtp.pt/noticias/mundo/marcelo-diz-que-donald-trump-e-um-ativo-russo_v1679637
3 months ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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âTo deprive the enemy of the advantage of surpriseâ: analysis as a panacea for military and intelligence failures in early Soviet intelligence theory
In the first half of the 20th century, the Soviets recognized the causal link between strategic and operational failures in the military and intelligence domains and the quality of the intelligence...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2546247
3 months ago
0
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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How to deceive: a supply-side approach
The study of strategic warning has focused on deception success. Scholars have argued that deception often succeeds because targets suffer cognitive and bureaucratic pathologies. This paper offers ...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2546248
3 months ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Unveiling Russian intelligence failures in the Ukraine conflict: a strategic culture perspective
Russiaâs invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 was accompanied by a major intelligence failure. Russiaâs intelligence machinery failed strategically and tactically, leaving leaders surprised and for...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2544460
3 months ago
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âHezbollahâs bureaucratic drift, reactive vetting procedures, and technological adaptations lack sufficient counterintelligence foresight and have left Hezbollah exposed to strategic penetration.â
doi.org/10.1080/0885...
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Defeating Hezbollah: Surface Area Vulnerabilities of Hard Targets
While Hezbollah began as an ideologically cohesive and virtually impenetrable entity, its evolution into a bureaucratic, transnational actor created vulnerabilities across its personnel, communicat...
https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2025.2544057
3 months ago
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âStated a bit more bluntlyâhow we can use the available federal machinery to screw our political enemies?â â Memorandum from White House counsel John Dean, August 16, 1971
3 months ago
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Has anyone seen Sy Hersh lately?
www.bbc.com/news/article...
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Ukrainian held in Italy over blast mystery of Nord Stream gas pipelines
German prosecutors say the man was in a group that planted explosives in the Baltic Sea.
https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/crkz1jl5j06o
3 months ago
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Swap: A Secret History of the New Cold War
www.amazon.com/Swap-Secret-...
3 months ago
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Another Mad Dog interview.
youtu.be/A2dZOtwUPpo?...
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Former CIA Spy Tells All On Working Inside The Clandestine Operations Of US Intelligence (edited)
YouTube video by The Front Lines
https://youtu.be/A2dZOtwUPpo?feature=shared
3 months ago
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ââCold Warriors of forty-seven don't recycle, Tim. You're all far too nice. You have too many rules of engagement.ââ â John le CarrĂ© (âOur Gameâ)
3 months ago
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The latest episode of Mission Implausible discusses the real story behind Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/m...
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Russian Interference in the 2016 Election (with Susan Miller)
Podcast Episode · Mission Implausible · 08/10/2025 · 57m
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/mission-implausible/id1728340033?i=1000721361941
3 months ago
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A new interview with Mad Dog.
www.wgi.world/inside-the-m...
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Inside the Mind of a CIA Operative: How to Work Effectively in Espionage - World Geostrategic Insights
World Geostrategic Insights interview with James (Jim) Lawler, a former CIA operative, on the essential talents, skills, and human traits needed for effective work in espionage, and successful recru...
https://www.wgi.world/inside-the-mind-of-a-cia-operative-how-to-work-effectively-in-espionage/
3 months ago
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"You can find meanness in the least of creatures, but when God made man the devil was at his elbow." â Cormac McCarthy ("Blood Meridian")
3 months ago
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A new open access article with
@tonyingesson.bsky.social
as the lead author.
doi.org/10.1080/0885...
3 months ago
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A narcissistic (or Armstrong) number is a number that is the sum of its own digits each raised to the power of the number of digits. For example, 370 = 3^3 + 7^3 + 0^3 or 1634 = 1^4 + 6^4 + 3^4 + 4^4.
3 months ago
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ââArenât you supposed to be the gentlemen who lie for the good of their country?â ââThatâs diplomats. Weâre not gentlemen.â ââSo you lie to save your hides.â ââThatâs politicians. Different game entirely.ââ â John le CarrĂ© (âOur Kind of Traitorâ)
3 months ago
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The conventional wisdom in the story is that Laura Loomer axed Jen Easterlyâs job at West Point. Iâve heard a different theory on how she got shivved. If true, all Iâll say is this: If you hear hoofbeats, think of horses not zebras.
www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-bide...
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Ex-Biden cyber director Jen Easterly says her West Point appointment was "unfortunately" rescinded
The Army secretary rescinded an appointment for Biden CISA director Jen Easterly at West Point, her alma mater.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/ex-biden-cyber-director-jen-easterly-west-point-appointment-rescinded/
3 months ago
0
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0885...
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Ethics in Practice: A Pragmatist Approach to Intelligence
This article offers a new approach to intelligence ethics grounded in practice. Drawing on pragmatist ethics and a survey of intelligence professionals, we analyze how practitioners resolve moral d...
https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2025.2527100
4 months ago
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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The vanishing watchman: the rise and decline of early warning
This article investigates the rise and decline of early warning as a priority task for intelligence agencies. The article shows that shifts in the prioritization of early warning are shaped by a co...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2526932
4 months ago
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âAny man's life, told truly, is a novelâŠâ - Ernest Hemingway (âDeath in the Afternoonâ) Happy 126th Birthday, Papa.
4 months ago
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On their podcast, David McCloskey and
@gordoncorera.bsky.social
now tackle the case of Edward Lee Howard, âthe spy who got away.â
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/t...
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The Great Betrayal: An American Traitor (Ep 1)
Podcast Episode · The Rest Is Classified · 07/20/2025 · 50m
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-rest-is-classified/id1780384916?i=1000718199056
4 months ago
0
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A new open access article.
doi.org/10.1080/0268...
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Learning from mistakes: the impact of the October 7 surprise attack on the youngest generation of IDF intelligence analysts
This article explores the individual-level effects of an intelligence failure; in particular, on entry-level intelligence analysts. It draws on interviews with graduates of the first class of the I...
https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2526931
4 months ago
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Happy International Chess Day to all those who celebrate. A memory from eight years ago in ZĂŒrich.
4 months ago
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â[Gabbard] is an intelligence gadfly and has proved to be a bad choice.â
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/ju...
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Gabbard should step down as director of national intelligence
Ever since the Russia hoax, President Trump has had a fraught relationship with out intelligence community.
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2025/jul/17/gabbard-step-director-national-intelligence/
4 months ago
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