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

March 2025 Digest

Events:

Leadership Dinner with NRO Director Chris Scolese
5 March 2025
Intelligence and National Security Alliance, McLean, VA

Join 300 intelligence and national security professionals for our Leadership Dinner with The Hon. Christopher Scolese, Director of the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), on Wednesday, March 5, from 5:30–9:30 pm at the Hilton McLean Tysons Corner. Dr. Scolese will deliver prepared remarks, followed by a Q&A with INSA Chairwoman Tish Long. Topics for discussion may include priorities for 2025, strengthening collaboration with international allies, industry, and interagency partners, updates on the Director's Innovation Initiative, and leveraging commercial space capabilities.

More details here.

Dr. Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven: The New Battlefield: Disinformation, Cyber Threats and the Geopolitics of Power
6 March 2025
2025 LSE German Symposium, London, UK

Dr. Arndt Freytag von Loringhoven is a seasoned diplomat and chemist. He earned his Master of Arts from New College, Oxford, in 1980, followed by a PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry in 1984. Joining the German Foreign Ministry in 1986, he held various significant positions, including serving at the embassies in Paris and Moscow, and as Director of European Affairs. From 2007 to 2010, he was Vice President of Germany's Federal Intelligence Service (BND). In 2016, he became NATO's first Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security. He also served as Germany's Ambassador to the Czech Republic (2014–2016) and to Poland (2020–2022). In 2024, he co-authored the book "Putins Angriff auf Deutschland" ("Putin's Attack on Germany"), addressing issues of disinformation and cyberattacks.

More details here.

Christian Dussey, ‘Switzerland and Intelligence’
7 March 2025
Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, online

Christian Dussey is a Swiss diplomat and senior intelligence official who has been serving as the Director of the Federal Intelligence Service (FIS) since April 1, 2022. Prior to this role, he was Switzerland’s Ambassador to Iran. Dussey has an extensive background in diplomacy and security, including serving as the Director of the Geneva Centre for Security Policy (GCSP).

More details here.

Book Lecture: Gray Day
12 March 2025
The Institute of World Politics, Washington D.C.

Eric O'Neill will highlight portions of his book as an American former FBI counterterrorism and counterintelligence operative. He will reveal his work as an Investigative Specialist with the Special Surveillance Group (SSG) and how he played a major role in the arrest, conviction, and imprisonment of FBI agent Robert Hanssen for spying on behalf of the Soviet Union and Russia. Eric’s book will be available for purchase and a book-signing will follow the lecture.

More details here.

Spy Chat with Chris Costa and Beth Sanner
13 March 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 be joined by Beth Sanner, Director of Geopolitics and Strategy at International Capital Strategies. Sanner has held a wide range of national security positions for over 35 years, including in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, the Central Intelligence Agency, the National Security Council, and the US Department of State. Her last government role was as the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Mission Integration, where she oversaw the integration of Intelligence Community collection, analysis, and programs and served as President Trump’s intelligence briefer. She also is a Distinguished Fellow at the German Marshall Fund, a Non-Resident Senior Fellow with the Intelligence Program at Harvard University’s Belfer Center, a Distinguished Advisor to Australia’s National Security College, and a Senior Fellow at the US Chamber Foundation.

More details here.

Lord Peter Ricketts, ‘Reflections on Intelligence and Foreign Policy’
14 March 2025
Cambridge Intelligence Seminar, online

Peter Ricketts was a British diplomat for 40 years, during which he worked closely with the intelligence community and was an avid customer for their product through a long series of conflicts and crises including the Iraq war. Peter dealt with defense and security throughout his career, from a posting to NATO in the 1970s, to working on the Balkans wars in the 1990s, Chair of the Joint Intelligence Council in 2000-1, Political Director of the FCO during the Iraq war, and the UK’s first national Security Adviser 2010-12. He will reflect on how the use of intelligence in foreign policy has changed and how the Whitehall machinery has adapted, especially with the creation of the National Security Council in 2010.

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:

Legitimate Spying? Challenge or Supporting Intelligence Services in Europe
Abstracts Due: 17 March 2025
Workshop, Utrecht University: 3-4 November 2025

We are pleased to invite you to submit a paper abstract for the workshop ‘Legitimate spying? Challenging or supporting intelligence services in Europe’ at Utrecht University, The Netherlands, on 3-4 November 2025.

Why are some intelligence agencies in Europe associated with authoritarianism and corruption, while others are politically and societally legitimate? This workshop aims to explain these striking variations across European national contexts and challenges the common focus on formal accountability mechanisms, such as intelligence oversight bodies, as the principal, rational-legal element of intelligence legitimacy. Instead, this workshop explores how civil society actors shape the legitimacy of intelligence services. It also expands the geographical scope of research on intelligence legitimacy, which has been primarily focused on the Anglo-Saxon context.

Examples of possible topics of research include:

Framing and narratives of intelligence services by various types of policy, political or societal actors, such as journalists, activists, legislators, publicly active academics and state bodies adjacent to the intelligence agencies.
Types of public dialogue between intelligence agencies and these types of civil society actors.
Legally required or pro-active transparency by intelligence services, such as the declassification of archives or public appearances of staff or management, and the ensuing public dialogue.
The contribution of civil society actors to the legitimacy of intelligence services, and the motivations of civil society actors to either do or not do so.
The role of civil society actors in addressing (past) abuses by intelligence services, such as during authoritarian rule.
How civil society actors attempt to gain information on intelligence services.
Different perceptions (by intelligence services or civil society actors) of what intelligence legitimacy consists of.
Education on oversight and legitimacy, e.g., training of oversight committee members.
Topics can cover any European national context or compare several ones.

The workshop on 3-4 November 2025 aims to lead to a special issue in a peer reviewed journal in the field of intelligence studies.

More details here.

15th Annual International Student Conference of the Cold War History Research Center, Budapest
Proposals Due: 30 March 2025
Conference: 27-28 May 2025

The Cold War History Research Center is now accepting proposals for its 15th Annual International Student Conference to be held at Corvinus University of Budapest on May 27–28, 2025. The conference will take place in Budapest, Hungary, and organized in collaboration with the Cold War International History Project, Woodrow Wilson Center for Scholars, Washington D.C. As in previous conferences, this year’s event will focus on the Cold War era in general and the post-Cold War period.

Possible topics may include (but are not limited to):

East Central Europe in the Cold War and its Aftermath
Hungary in the Cold War
Western Europe and the Cold War
The Soviet Union and the United States in the Cold War
Asia and Africa in the Cold War and its Aftermath
International Relations during the Cold War
International Relations in the post-Cold War era

Please send an abstract on any of the above topics. Abstracts should be approximately 3000–5000 characters long and should be sent in Word format via email to:
Research Coordinator, PhD candidate Renata Dravucz: coordinator@coldwar.hu.

More details here.

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 Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence: Twenty years after the Butler Review: Have we learned anything?
Abstracts Due: 1 April 2025
Conference: 5-6 June 2025

This special issue will be based on a theme of a conference, to be held at Oxford University, June 5-6 2025...."Twenty years After the Butler Review: Have we learned anything?" The Butler Review was based on reviewing lessons identified by Lord Butler still relevant today? The review concluded that key intelligence used to justify the war with Iraq was unreliable, yet it was still used in the decision-making process. Raising the questions....Are the ambiguities and uncertainties of intelligence forecasting adequately understood? As a nation's national security depends on closer collaboration between the intelligence community and commercial corporations, what is the role of academic intelligence studies? What is the connection between strong citizen forces and the defense of liberal democracies? Can there be a 'theory of everything' that synthesizes the past's disparate approaches?

The Oxford Intelligence Conference at Nuffield College will address these questions by bringing together, in the tradition of the OIG, intelligence practitioners and scholars, military thinkers, and policymakers over two days to hear papers and discuss the issues facing National Security. Aware of the history but also to inform fresh thinking about the current threat landscape.

More details here.

Recent Publications:

Voss Loren, “The overlooked importance of intelligence analysis in IHL,” International Review of the Red Cross, https://doi:10.1017/S1816383124000584

Riehle, Kevin, “How do we know if an intelligence analytic product is good?” Intelligence and National Security, https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2468051

Richards, Harry, “The nationalisation of war, the rise of psychology, and the creation of ‘spy fever’ in the British press,” War & Society, https://doi.org/10.1080/07292473.2025.2463758

Wolfberg, Adrian, “Facing dilemmas: how intelligence analysts navigate emotional, cognitive, and structural challenges,” Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism, https://doi.org/10.1080/18335330.2025.2452841

Obioha-Val, Onyinye Agatha, Oluwaseun Oladeji Olaniyi, Michael Olayinka Gbadebo, Adebayo Yusuf Balogun, and Anthony, “Cyber Espionage in the Age of Artificial Intelligence: A Comparative Study of State-Sponsored Campaign,” Asian Journal of Research in Computer Science, https://doi.org/10.9734/ajrcos/2025/v18i1557

Rosli, Wan Rosalili Wan, “Waging warfare against states: the deployment of artificial intelligence in cyber espionage,” AI Ethics, https://doi.org/10.1007/s43681-024-00628-x

Serscikov, Grigorji, “The Role of Strategic Culture in Shaping Iran’s Cyber Defense Policy” International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2024.2448959