KCSI Digest
Contents
- Events
- Conferences
- Call for Papers
- Recent Publications
Events
Churchill’s D-Day: The Inside Story
8 November
Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, Online
D-Day is celebrated as a great triumph and a major turning point in the Second World War. But as Churchill knew, large-scale land and sea operations were fraught with danger and victory was not guaranteed. What would have happened if D-Day had failed? Would the outcome of the war have been different? And how much of its success was down to the leadership of one man?
Allen Packwood’s new book Churchill’s D-Day plunges us back in time to this knife-edge moment to witness events as they unfolded. Through documents and letters from the Churchill Archives Centre in Cambridge, we get a vivid sense of the tremendous risks involved in the planning and execution of Operation Overlord, the largest land, sea and air operation ever staged.
More details here.
"The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America's Invasion of Iraq" - A Book Talk
19 November
Strauss-Clements Intelligence Studies Project, Austin, Texas
On Tuesday, November 19, 2024, the Strauss-Clements Intelligence Studies Project will host author Steve Coll for a book talk on The Achilles Trap: Saddam Hussein, the C.I.A., and the Origins of America’s Invasion of Iraq. Dr. Aaron O’Connell, Associate Professor of History at UT-Austin and Director of Research for the Clements Centre for National Security will moderate the talk.
More details here.
Spying in Plain Sight: Inside the Military Liaison Mission in East and West Germany
20 November
International Spy Museum, Washington D.C., Online
After World War II, the American, British, French, and Soviet armies occupying Germany exchanged military liaison missions to sort out minor issues among the armies on the ground. To enable this work, the missions were allowed to travel all over Germany. As the Cold War heated up, however, this congenial plan took on a very different meaning and evolved into a license to spy.
Join us in collaboration with the Allied Museum for a closer look at these liaison missions and the intriguing protocols and equipment supporting them. Historian Bernd von Kostka, curator at the Allied Museum in Berlin and co-author of Capital of Spies: Intelligence Agencies in Berlin During the Cold War, will give us a look at an incredible vehicle in the Allied Museum’s collection related to the missions. Joel Anderson, who was a Tour Officer at the United States Military Liaison Mission from 1988 to 1991, will share some of his personal experiences. In addition, former Spy Museum historian and curator, Dr. Mark Stout, will share related artifacts from the Spy Museum’s collection.
More details here.
Israeli National Intelligence Culture
22 November
Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, Online
Different nations have different national intelligence cultures, relying on different ideas of intelligence, perceiving, and practicing intelligence in different ways. Relying on more than 30 elite interviews with acting and former Israeli practitioners, Dr. Itai Shapira’s new book highlights the Israeli aversion to intelligence theory and scientific methods, as well as to the structured management of the intelligence system at the national level. It describes the intelligence system's emphasis on contrarian thinking and moral courage as the foundations of intelligence professionalism, and the growing inclination of Israeli intelligence toward action and influence. While some traits of the Israeli national intelligence culture have contributed to its high reputation and its 'success story', others might have also contributed to its failure in anticipating the Hamas terrorist attack on October 2023 or have remained aspirational norms rather than realized practice. The October 2023 failure, as that of the Yom Kippur War in 1973, will undoubtfully influence Israeli national intelligence culture for many years to come.
More details here.
Russia's War Against the West
21 November
Inside Intelligence, Johns Hopkins, Online
Join host Michael Ard for a curated discussion with Ambassador John J. Sullivan, former U.S. deputy secretary of state and former U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation, on “Russia’s War Against the West.” Ambassador John J. Sullivan is the former U.S. deputy secretary of state and former U.S. ambassador to the Russian Federation. He is also a Distinguished Scholar at the School of Foreign Service of Georgetown University and a Distinguished Fellow at the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University. He serves as a contributor to CBS News, is quoted frequently in international media as a leading authority on foreign affairs and has authored a book on his experiences as ambassador, Midnight in Moscow, which was published by Little, Brown and Company in August 2024.
More details here.
Conferences
National Intelligence History Conference
20 – 22 November
Bletchley Park, UK
The theme of the 2024 conference is ‘People in Intelligence’. Topics presented at this academic conference may include the history of intelligence organizations, personal stories, biographies, cryptography and cryptanalysis throughout history, representations of intelligence in popular culture, human intelligence, and espionage.
Delegates will enjoy three days of panel discussions, plenary lectures, poster displays, networking opportunities and free access to the Bletchley Park heritage site and facilities. *Booking extended – last few places remaining. *
More details here.
Call for Papers
Call for papers – Intelligence Studies Summit
Submissions Due: 6 December 2024
Conference: 3-5 March 2025
National Intelligence University, Washington D.C.
NIU will convene its first Intelligence Studies Summit (ISS) in Washington, DC during March 2025. The ISS aims to provide a collegial forum for academics and intelligence practitioners to share their research and discuss the intelligence studies discipline and intelligence education.
We encourage submissions that align with the following three themes:
I. Using technology to transform intelligence and intelligence studies.
II. Reconsidering intelligence studies research and education, including perspectives on intelligence studies as an academic discipline.
III. Defining the intelligence studies discipline to shape the future enterprise, in service to the Nation.
Paper proposals should be original research and intended for publication. Please submit your proposal on the Intelligence Studies Summit webpage on or before Friday, December 6, 2024.
More details here.
Recent Publications
Jonah Victor, ‘ China’s Thickening Information Fog: Overcoming New Challenges in Analysis,” Studies in Intelligence
https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/static/1d6822e41e21503525a8179cd8418749/Article-Chinas-Thickening-Information-Fog.pdf
Joe Cheravitch, ‘Commissars with Keyboards: the Lingering Relevance of the Military-Political Origins of Chinese and Russian Psychological Warfare,” Intelligence and National Security
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684527.2024.2405256
Rafael G. Lenzi, ‘Exploring deceptions: cognitive strategies and dynamics in Espionage,’ Semiotica
https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/sem-2024-0145/html
Compiled by Kayla Berg