KCSI Digest - Apr 2025 | King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence

April 2025 Digest

Events:

Day in the Life of a U.S. Intelligence Officer
4 April 2025
The Institute of World Politics, Washington D.C.

Join us as we review the typical workdays - and, more broadly, the work-tour - of a U.S. Intelligence Officer working in a hostile overseas operational environment, where he or she will assume the extraordinary responsibility not just for their assets and operations but for the ongoing security of their co-workers and their State Department colleagues.

Our speaker, Mr. Paul Kepp, is a Former Assistant Director of the CIA, a 34-year veteran of the U.S. intelligence and foreign affairs communities, and an IWP Adjunct Professor. Mr. Kepp is a career intelligence officer, with 34 years of service in the Central Intelligence Agency Directorate of Operations, and in the foreign service community. The majority of Mr. Kepp’s career was in overseas assignments, including five tours as a CIA chief of station in Africa, South Asia, and Europe. In Washington, Mr. Kepp served as Chief of Operations for the Africa Division in the DO, and as Assistant Director of CIA for South and Central Asia. Mr. Kepp is a recipient of the National Intelligence Exceptional Achievement medal, the Donovan Award, and the Presidential Rank Award for Meritorious Service. He holds a B.A. in Philosophy from Wheaton College.

More details here.

The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence”
10 April 2025
LBJ School of Public Affairs, Austin, TX

The Strauss-Clements Intelligence Studies Project will host a book talk, The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence, with author Dr. Jeffrey Rogg. Dr. Jeffrey Rogg is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of South Florida’s Global and National Security Institute. Previously, he was an assistant professor at the Joint Special Operations University and The Citadel. He was also a postdoctoral fellow in the National Security Affairs Department at the U.S. Naval War College. Dr. Rogg is the vice president of the Society for Intelligence History and is on the editorial board of the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence. His work has appeared in the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, Intelligence and National Security, Just Security, The Washington Post, The National Interest, The Hill, and the Los Angeles Times. Dr. Rogg’s book, The Spy and the State: The History of American Intelligence, will be published by Oxford University Press in May 2025. Dr. Rogg has a BA in Latin and ancient history from Swarthmore College, a JD from Villanova University School of Law, an MA in security studies from Georgetown University, and a PhD in history from The Ohio State University.

More details here.

Rogue Agent: From Secret Plots to Psychological Warfare: The Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart
16 April 2025
International Spy Museum, Washington D.C. and online

Diplomat, conspirator, intelligence gatherer, propagandist, and charmer, Sir Robert Bruce Lockhart was London’s key agent in Moscow during the first half of the twentieth century. Join International Spy Museum Historian and Curator Dr. Andrew Hammond in conversation with Dr. James Crossland, author of Rogue Agent: From Secret Plots to Psychological Warfare: The Untold Story of Robert Bruce Lockhart. Lockhart was an impressive figure who played a vital role in both world wars. He was a man who charmed his way into the confidences of everyone from Leon Trotsky to Anthony Eden. A man whom the influential press baron Lord Beaverbrook claimed, "could well have been prime minister.” And yet Lockhart died almost forgotten and near destitute, a Scottish footnote in the pages of history. Crossland has drawn from years of research into private papers, top secret documents, and the memoirs and diaries of those who knew Lockhart best, as well as the numerous works penned by Lockhart himself, to write the first biography of this unconventional character. The discussion will explore this flawed maverick from his time as Britain’s agent in Moscow and his role in a plot to bring down the communist regime to his leadership in the Political Warfare Executive—a secret body responsible for disinformation and propaganda during World War II. Famed spy Sidney Reilly will also be touched on as the Spy Museum has on view the only physical evidence that links Lockhart and Reilly to their 1918 plot against Russia’s Bolshevik regime.

More details here.

Spy Chat with Chris Costa and special guest Jen Easterly
17 April 2025
International Spy Museum, online

Join us for an online discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, and terrorism issues in the news. Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa will lead the briefing and will be joined by Jen Easterly, former Director of the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA).

As the Director of CISA, America’s premier cyber defense agency, Easterly led the nation’s efforts to protect critical infrastructure from cyber and physical threats, transforming the agency into a $3 billion operation with over 10,000 employees and contract personnel. Before CISA, she served as Head of Firm Resilience at Morgan Stanley, where she built and led the company’s Cybersecurity Fusion Center, charged with protecting the Firm from cyber threats. Easterly’s public service spans more than three decades, including multiple combat deployments in the U.S. Army, where she played a pivotal role in the creation of U.S. Cyber Command and commanded the Army’s first cyber battalion. She served twice at the White House, including as Special Assistant to President Obama and Senior Director for Counterterrorism and earlier as Senior Policy Advisor to National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice. She also served as the Deputy for Counterterrorism at the National Security Agency (NSA) and as a senior leader in Tailored Access Operations, NSA’s elite hacking team. A distinguished graduate of West Point and Rhodes Scholar, Easterly is a two-time recipient of the Bronze Star as well as numerous awards, including the 2018 James W. Foley American Hostage Freedom Award.

More details here.

INSA Spring Symposium - Integrating Emerging Tech: Challenges and Solutions
22 April 2025
Intelligence and National Security Alliance, Arlington, VA

Join us on Tuesday, April 22, from 8:00 am to 5:30 pm for our Spring Symposium, Integrating Emerging Tech: Challenges and Solutions. This year’s program will convene 250–300 senior leaders from government, leading defense contractors, academic institutions, and technology firms supporting the U.S. national security mission. Topics for discussion include: counterintelligence challenges in an evolving threat landscape, harnessing emerging technologies for strategic gain, leveraging AI for competitive advantage and rethinking acquisition strategies for speed and agility. Don’t miss this opportunity to gain critical insights, connect with key decision-makers, and navigate the complexities of adopting emerging technologies to advance U.S. national security.

More details here.

War and the Mind
26 April 2025
Imperial War Museum, London, UK

What motivates people to start and support wars? How do humans think, feel and act during conflict? How do we make sense of the devastating conflicts that have shaped our world? Are humans psychologically hardwired towards war, or is true peace possible? IWM's temporary exhibition War and the Mind explores war’s many psychological dimensions, from the First World War to the present day. The IWM Institute is bringing together leading historians, psychologists, tech experts, policymakers, military leaders and more for War and the Mind Live, a day of discussion and debate on IWM London's Roof Terrace. Following the discussion, the War and the Mind exhibition will be open for visitors to explore.

More details here.

Conferences:

AFCEA – Spring Intelligence Symposium
1-2 April 2025
Springfield, VA

AFCEA's Spring Intelligence Symposium returns to the NGA Campus East in Springfield, VA on April 1-2, 2025. This classified TS//SI/TK//NOFORN two-day flagship intelligence event is a forum for Intelligence Community (IC) professionals is an ideal venue for networking, professional development and learning about the nation’s hardest intelligence challenges. Our discussions will be informed by an Intelligence Community assessment of this environment and the capabilities needed to inform policy and operations within it. These insights will be deepened by consideration of lessons being learned as the United States confronts these dynamic threat vectors both collectively and individually. Through these discussions, symposium participants will gain a more informed perspective on evolving intelligence requirements and the opportunities for partnerships to address them. Additionally, the program will feature the presentation of the Charlie Allen Award for Distinguished Intelligence Service and the 2nd annual award for Excellence in Defence Scientific & Technical Intelligence.

More details here.

Call for Papers:

Joint IAFIE EC and IAFIE Annual Conference
Abstracts Due: 2 April 2025
Conference: 9-11 September 2025

The European Chapter of the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE EC) in association with the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE) is delighted to announce its Annual Conference, “Enhancing Intelligence Competences for a New World of Threats”, taking place in Aranjuez–Madrid, Spain, from 9th to 11th September 2025. This conference aims to advance the professionalization of intelligence education, with a special focus on developing and adapting intelligence competences to address today’s complex geopolitical and security challenges. In an era defined by disinformation, technological innovation, and global change, intelligence competences serve as a vital strategic axis for a holistic approach to these issues. The event adopts a whole-of-government and whole-of-society perspective, fostering collaboration between academic scholars and intelligence practitioners from government and the private sector. By promoting knowledge exchange and best practices, the conference seeks to build an integrative framework for tackling contemporary threats.

Abstracts for submissions are expected to address the conference theme “Enhancing Intelligence Competences for a New World of Threats”, the objectives suggested in this call, or related topics. We encourage submissions representing both individual or joint scholar’s work, applied research projects, case study analyses, experience in intelligence schools, or practical experience in government or industry.

More details here.

International Intelligence History Association (IIHA) 2025 Conference
Call for Papers: Potentials and Limits of Intelligence
Abstracts Due: 30 April 2025
Conference: 26-28 September 2025

The 2025 IIHA conference will take place at the ‘Akademie für Politische Bildung’ in Tutzing, near Munich in Germany, on September 26-28, 2025. Intelligence and espionage almost always played a role in security, conflict and international relations. While hopes of a so-called ‘peace dividend’ thrived in the early 1990s, after decades of Cold War, it is now clear that intelligence is an integral part of an increasingly uncertain world. Thus the 2025 IIHA Annual Conference will examine in historical context a wide range of issues relating to the potential and limitations of intelligence, including:

The impact of intelligence successes or failures on international relations.
Difficulties of cooperation between domestic and foreign intelligence.
Intelligence cooperation between friends and competing nations.
The balance between legitimate surveillance of political extremism and political repression
The balance between democratic oversight of intelligence agencies and their most comprehensive ability to protect democracy.
The use of intelligence agencies of authoritarian-led states as an instrument to undermine foreign democracies.
The interaction between intelligence and technology - how technological development challenged intelligence and how intelligence paved the way for technological development.

The field of intelligence history is not limited to contemporary studies. Thus, we strongly encourage also scholars working with intelligence in earlier historical eras to submit paper abstracts.

Young Researchers Forum: A particularly important part of developing a research field is the participation of junior researchers, especially postgraduate and doctoral students. The annual IIHA conferences have a long tradition of providing a forum where young researchers can present their ongoing projects and receive constructive criticism, inputs, and new network contacts.

More details here.

British International History Group
Abstracts Due: 30 April 2025
Conference: 3-5 September 2025

The BIHG Committee invites you to contribute a paper to its 33rd annual conference. As in previous years, we encourage proposals for papers from a wide range of subjects from any approach or period in international history. These include:

The History of Diplomacy and the relations between states
Domestic Issues in Foreign Policy
The History of International Relations, International Organisations and Institutions
Transnational History including social and cultural movements (e.g. human rights, race, social justice, and feminism) that cross borders
The History of War and strategy, Intelligence and/or Propaganda
Imperial and postcolonial History & Inter-Imperial Relations,
International/Comparative Economic history
Contemporary international history
Teaching international history & the historiography of International History

We accept both individual papers (20 minutes) and complete panel submissions (consisting of three 20 minute papers). We accept individual and panel submissions (max 3 papers, 20 mins each). Accepted individual papers will be allocated to the most appropriate panel. The keynote lecturer will be Professor Thomas Otte (UEA)

If you wish to offer a paper, please submit a one-page CV and 250-word abstract by an extended deadline of Wednesday 30 April.

More details here.

The Israeli Intelligence Studies Conference 2025
Call for Papers: Intelligence Transformations After Failure
Abstracts Due: 31 July 2025
Conference: 28 -29 October 2025

The Hamas-led surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the multi-front war that followed have sparked global debates about intelligence, security, and adaptation. How can intelligence-policy relations be restructured to improve early warning and crisis preparedness in the wake of failure? What organizational reforms emerge after intelligence breakdowns, and how do they shape future effectiveness? What technological and methodological advancements should intelligence agencies integrate to enhance operations and decision-making, and to what extent? Intelligence failures often serve as catalysts for change, driving institutional learning, structural reforms, and innovation. At a time when intelligence agencies are under intense scrutiny and the demand for resilience is greater than ever, this conference explores the theme “Intelligence Transformations After Failure.”

We encourage submissions addressing the following issues, but not limited to them:

The politics of intelligence (e.g., intelligence-policy relations, intelligence oversight, state inquiries, public trust, ethics of secrecy and espionage)
Technological, methodological, and cultural dimensions of early warning & intelligence collection, analysis, and operations
State intelligence relations with the private sector & civil society
Intelligence education for students & practitioners

We also invite nominations of excellent research in Intelligence Studies (IS) for the following awards:

Best Book (or monograph dissertation)
Best Peer-Reviewed Article
Best Graduate Paper

More details here.

Recent Publications:

Fingar, Thomas, “Optimizing intelligence support: guidelines for policymakers and intelligence analysts” Intelligence and National Security https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2477395

Pijpers, Peter B.M.J., Neitzman, Lotte, Schrijver, Peter, “Birdwatchers on social media: The Mediatisation of intelligence organisations,” Security and Defence Quarterly https://doi.org/10.35467/sdq/196516

Nutt, Cullen G., “When Do Great Powers Employ Covert Action?” Security Studies https://doi.org/10.1080/09636412.2025.2467146

Hańderek, Marek, “The activities of Polish military intelligence under the cover of the Neutral Nations Supervisory Commission, and its impact on the failure of arms control in Korea, 1953–1956,” Cold War History https://doi.org/10.1080/14682745.2024.2436901