Just finished editing the terrorist financing news roundup coming out later this week....and there's a fun little nugget in there that has inspired me to re-share my initial look at the Wagner Group's web of companies: newsletter.insightthreatintel.com/p/wagner-gro...

Excited to see Covert Action: National Approaches to Unacknowledged Intervention, in the wild at #APSA2025. My contribution: Israel's Mossad and Covert Action: Immigration, Counter-Proliferation, and Assassination. Edited by @rorycormac.bsky.social @magslong.bsky.social @markstout.bsky.social

@rorycormac.bsky.social @markstout.bsky.social @dvanp.bsky.social @jgmaber.bsky.social @paulmcgarr.bsky.social @dianabolsinger.bsky.social It arrived! Super excited about our edited volume on #covertaction! And extremely grateful to our contributors and reviewers for their hard work and support!

👀 SIS/MI6 are the last of the UK's agencies to join social media in an official capacity, following on from MI5 and GCHQ. Cheeky reference to spy fiction vs reality here ⏬️ www.instagram.com/reel/DOVSo5J...

New addition Journal article: Unveiling Russian intelligence failures in the Ukraine conflict: a strategic culture perspective by Huw Dylan, Elena Grossfeld (published 22-08-2025) https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2544460

New batch of emails from Russia's disinformation campaign, which added Chancellor Merz of Germany to its list of targets, which has previously focused on Moldovan president Maia Sandu and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

IISS: 'The Scale of Russian Sabotage Operations Against Europe’s Critical Infrastructure' www.iiss.org/research-pap...

💥Very excited to report that @thecipherbrief.bsky.social ‬ published my article "When States Go Mob"! #OrganizedCrime networks are force multipliers and a structural scaffolding in the #grayzone reshaping the global security environment. Pse. have a look!👇 www.thecipherbrief.com/gray-zone-cr...

Another writer and broadcaster just offered “Fakers” is “Monty Python meets Le Carré” … exactly what I was going for! Absolutely buzzing 😀

I wrote this week on a new IISS report tracking suspected Russian sabotage in Europe. It shows a quadrupling in incidents between 2023 & 2024, as well as a more recent lull. That could indicate a change in Russia's calculus—or just a temporary pause. www.economist.com/graphic-deta...

NOW OPEN ACCESS: Briant, Emma L. & Wanlass, A. (2018). "A Ménage à Trois for the Digital Age: Strategic Leaks, Propaganda and Journalism," in Corneliu Bjola & James Pamment. Countering Online Propaganda and Vioent Extremism: The Dark Side of Digital Diplomacy. www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

Excited to support MA in Applied Security & Strategy (MStrat) @exeter.ac.uk Strategy and Security Institute geared twrds professionals in defence, diplomacy, intelligence & policy to sharpen their strategic thinking & decision-making skills. Sep. 2025 apps open - 🔗 www.exeter.ac.uk/study/postgr...

Come do a PhD at @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social. You could be supervised by some of my fantastic colleagues while working in a vibrant, pluralistic & highly engaged research environment. These positions are fully salaried & come with a research budget of 30k SEK a year fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

‼️ Hidden Bear: The GRU hackers of Russia's most notorious kill squad As The Insider discovered, Unit 29155, the Kremlin’s most notorious black ops squad, also fielded a team of hackers that tried to destabilize Ukraine before Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Try us here coldwarconversations.com #coldwarhistory #oralhistory #vivid #visceral #podcast

The Swedish Defence University advertises a postdoc focused on ”narrative geopolitics” - or how widespread and emotionally charged narratives influence international security, great power relations, and geostrategic rivalry. Deadline August 31: fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

Sweden probes suspected spy reportedly linked to resignation of security adviser www.euronews.com/my-europe/20...

We delighted to share that our latest book review has been published! Ashleigh Percival-Borley reviews two recent significant volumes on the history of women in British wartime intelligence: Helen Fry's Women in Intelligence and Claire Hubbard-Hall's Her Secret Service. ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

🚨Publication alert!🚨For a fascinating insight into the CIA's work in India, uncovered as part of the release of the Kennedy assassination files, take a look at our latest Insights piece by @paulmcgarr.bsky.social: kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

Online event Professor Christopher Andrew, ‘MI5 and 10 Downing Street: the first 100 years’ by Cambridge Intelligence Seminar (on 2025-05-07) https://www.hist.cam.ac.uk/event-series/intelligence

"British counterterrorism officers arrested several Iranian men over an alleged plot to attack an unspecified target in London, the Metropolitan Police force said Sunday". apnews.com/article/uk-i...

📢 Exciting News! My book KGB LITERATI: SPY FICTION & STATE SECURITY IN THE SOVIET UNION is now available for pre-order! 🎉 Grab your copy here 👉 www.amazon.com/KGB-Literati... #spies #writers #KGB #booklaunch #newrelease #preordernow @socintelhist.bsky.social

I’m really proud of this. We’re breaking down the US-centric approach of “covert action” to explore the phenomenon of unacknowledged interference in international relations. The CIA dominates the history books; Russia today’s headlines… but lots of states, past and present, have been up to it

@rorycormac.bsky.social @dvanp.bsky.social @markstout.bsky.social Gen Lester and I are super grateful to our amazing group of contributors working with us on this project - 20 substantive chapters!! We learned so much about #covertaction outside of the anglosphere! Coming out in December 🎄🎉

“One of the great allures of military power is that it promises to bring conflicts to a quick and decisive conclusion. In practice, it rarely does.” A superb essay from @ldfreedman.bsky.social www.foreignaffairs.com/age-forever-...

📑 My latest for @warontherocks.bsky.social: #BulgarianSpies #JanMarsalek #OldBailey #WarInUkraine #FSB #GRU The largest spy trial in UK history revealed an unusual espionage network & how Moscow's covert ops escalated shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 👉 shorturl.at/ymu4U

“Larry Pfeiffer, a former senior CIA and NSA official, said top administration officials like those involved in the group chat have government-approved communications with them 24 hours a day, even when traveling.” www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...

American war planning usually takes place in highly secure facilities. But the Trump administration planned its strikes on the Houthis using a group chat—and accidentally included The Atlantic’s editor in chief, Jeffrey Goldberg. theatln.tc/IuULQFiY

"The United Nations Panel of Experts (UNPE)...reported in 2023 that cyber-theft accounted for half of North Korea’s foreign currency revenue. North Korea’s digital plunder last year was worth more than three times the value of its exports to China" www.economist.com/asia/2025/03...

Great point by @rorycormac.bsky.social! To paraphrase MI6 chief Sir Richard Moore, intel services of some countries have "gone a bit feral." Russia is not alone. Iran used the Foxtrot Network in Sweden! They may not share the same objectives, but crim netwks r taking advantage of the mayhem!

Celebrating SIH Authors! Check out these excellent reads: Gurkan, Emrah Safa. Spies for the Sultan: Ottoman Intelligence in the. Great Rivalry with Spain. Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press, 2024.

👀 Out this month: "Intelligence, Security and the State: Reviewing the British Intelligence Community" with Christopher J. Murphy, published by Edinburgh University Press. 🗓 March 2025 (paperback to follow) #WorldBookDay 📚 edinburghuniversitypress.com/book-intelli...

"Trump, Vance, et al. are clearly desperate to get Americans not to think about the strategic and national-security implications of their policies, but to view international politics—peace and war—as a soap opera." New from @markhertling.bsky.social: www.thebulwark.com/p/national-s...

The Early Career Scholar Lounge, sponsored by Oxford University is a drop-in space for early career scholars to prepare, recharge, and meet peers. Open today from 8am - 6pm. #ISA2025

Looking for #Funding opportunities to pursue #AcademicInterests, #Research, or #ProfessionalDevelopment? Join this panel to learn how to navigate the increasingly-competitive world of external funding & discover different #Fellowships and #Awards available to ISA #Scholars and #Students.

The Early Career Scholar Lounge, sponsored by Oxford University is a drop-in space for early career scholars to prepare, recharge, and meet with peers. Opens today at 8am. #ISA2025

"Foreign adversaries including Russia and China have recently directed their intelligence services to ramp up recruiting of US federal employees working in national security, targeting those who have been fired or feel they could be soon" www.cnn.com/2025/02/28/p...

"British Spies & Their Fiction" My review of Oliver Buckton's book Counterfeit Spies: How WWII Intelligence Operations Shaped Cold War Spy Fiction (2024) was published in the International Journal of Intelligence & Counterintelligence. Get your free copy below! www.tandfonline.com/eprint/XUFDY...

This is so important l intelligence liaison is not a 'nice-to-have'; it is a 'must' for US national #Security. Might #Trump jeopardize America's secret relationships? I consider this question for @ForeignAffairs. @ISICambridge @kclintelligence @warstudies @KCLSecurity

New article published in the journal Intelligence and National Security titled "The media and ‘Mrs Petrov’: press representations of Australia’s most famous spy" by Melanie Brand, available at: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

Hostile state activities in the #grayzone using #hybridmethods is a morphing, dynamic threat we have a limited understanding of. I recently had the privilege to talk to @matthewrr.bsky.social about this. His fantastic paper is an excellent place to start. www.socace-research.org.uk/publications...

▶️ 'The Long Shadow of the Soviet Sabotage?’, War on the Rocks, shorturl.at/TLhT8 ▶️ 'Russian Sabotage in the Gig-Economy Era', RUSI, co-authored @kloosha.bsky.social, @magslong.bsky.social & @patrickbury.bsky.social, shorturl.at/qp1Z9 @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social

🔺 EXCLUSIVE: Thousands of pages of documents recovered and analysed by The Sunday Times show how Syrians were forced and cajoled into informing on their friends, neighbours and relatives to the security service ⬇️

“They were monitoring all Nato naval ships and aircraft,” Lloyd’s List was told. “They had all details on them. They were just matching their frequencies. “Russians, Turkish, Indian radio officers were operating it.” www.lloydslist.com/LL1151955/Ru...

Mossad's exploding pager op began 10 yrs ago with explosives in walkie-talkies. Hezbollah bought 16,000+ of these, but Mossad didn't detonate them until this yr. In 2022 Mossad began booby-trapping pagers too. Unlike walkie-talkies, which only got worn in battle, Hezbollah wore pagers all the time

🔻EXCLUSIVE🔻 Russian military intelligence (GRU) ran a campaign to intimidate and silence Russia’s critics in Estonia. Targets included the interior minister, who was surveilled, and whose family car’s windows were smashed near his home. This is important! 🧵👇 theins.ru/en/politics/...

Russia is using gold and informal trade networks, with China’s help, to sidestep Western sanctions, write Francesca Ghiretti, John Kennedy, and Maxime Sommerfeld Antoniou of RAND in their op-ed.

“The Office of the Director of National Intelligence has released a long-classified memorandum shedding light on the targeted killings of Vladimir Putin’s political adversaries, following nearly eight years of persistent public records efforts.” www.bloomberg.com/news/newslet...

#Coldwar #spotify #bookgiveaway A novella set in Prague during the Soviet Invasion of 1968 by @patrickdjoyce.com Follow @coldwarpod.bsky.social & repost this post to enter a draw to win an #audiobook of "Strawberry Fields". T&Cs and extra ways to enter here coldwarconversations.com/giveaway1