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

September 2025 Digest

Contents:

Events
Conferences
Call for Papers
Recent Publications
Podcasts

Events:

Leading MI5
10 September 2025
The National Archives, Online

While much of MI5’s work necessarily remains secret, this talk offers a fascinating and first-hand account of the world of intelligence. Join us for a unique conversation with Lord Evans, former Director General of MI5, as he shares his experiences and insights from a 33-year career at the forefront of national security. In conversation with Saul Nassé, Keeper of Public Records, Lord Evans will discuss what it was like to work for and lead MI5. His career spanned a pivotal period in modern history, including the 9/11 attacks, which occurred just ten days after he became Director of International Counterterrorism in 2001. He was appointed Director General of MI5 in 2007, leading the organization until his retirement in 2013.This is a rare opportunity to hear from a former senior figure in the intelligence community, offering an important perspective on the world of MI5 and the challenges of keeping the country safe.

More details here.

9/11: What Happened, and What it Means Today
11 September 2025
The Clements Center for National Security, Austin, TX

On Thursday, September 11, the Clements Center for National Security, the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, and the Intelligence Studies Project will host "9/11: What Happened, and What it Means Today" with Bobby Chesney, Dean of the University of Texas School of Law, Sheena Chestnut Greitens, Founder and Director of the Asia Policy Project, Will Inboden, Executive Vice President and Provost of the University of Texas, Jeannie Leavitt, Distinguished National Security Fellow of the Clements Center, Joe Maguire, Executive Director of the Clements Center, and Steve Slick, Director of the Intelligence Studies Project. Adam Klein, Director of the Strauss Center for International Security and Law, will moderate. As we mark the upcoming anniversary of September 11, 2001, we will gather to reflect on the attacks, the immediate response, and the long-term consequences that continue to shape American policy and society. This panel brings together experts with firsthand experience and deep insight to discuss how that day transformed our national security, foreign policy, and the relationship between the American people and their government.

More details here.

Aldrich Ames: The Traitor Who Hurt America Most
12 September 2025
The International Spy Museum, Online

Moscow. Money. Mailboxes. Aldrich Ames was a CIA case officer for over three decades, but his legacy would be shaped by his work for the KGB. For nine years Ames sold secrets to the Soviet Union, giving up over 100 operations and the identities of Soviets spying for the United States. Why would Ames give this information to the KGB? How did the CIA find out Ames was selling American secrets? How did the search for and discovery of a traitor in their midst affect his former colleagues and co-workers? Join the Free Library of Philadelphia and International Spy Museum Director of Adult Education Amanda Ohlke for a conversation into the life of one of the most damaging spies in American history.

More details here.

The Role of Media in National Security
16 September 2025
The Institute of World Politics, Washington D.C.

Exploring the role of media in national security and how coverage can both positively and negatively impact the public’s perception of the work performed. In a world where transparency equals trust, the lecture will examine how to navigate the seemingly opposed priorities of transparency and national security.

Jenny Burke is a professional communicator with a career spanning national security, border security, public safety, and technology for more than 25 years. For the last 19 years, she has worked in public affairs across the Department of Homeland Security. With a background in technology communications in the private sector, Ms. Burke was recruited by the newly established Department of Homeland Security in 2006 to help the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office – currently the Office of Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction – establish its communications office. This work led directly to U.S. Customs and Border Protection as the agency deployed radiation detection monitors to ports of entry across the country. Ms. Burke spent ten years at CBP working with national security, technology, trade, and travel topics. She became the agency’s first-ever press secretary in 2014 working directly for the Commissioner with high-profile topics such as use of force and the unaccompanied child migration crisis. In the years following CBP, Ms. Burke worked with several components with DHS. She ran the public affairs office at the DHS headquarters during the transition between the Obama and Trump administrations in 2017. She served the Federal Emergency Management Agency as press secretary in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria. She also served as the press secretary for the Transportation Security Administration and at US Immigration and Customs Enforcement where she was also the senior career official in the Office of Public Affairs.

More details here.

The Evolution of Russian Intelligence, 1917-2025
18 September 2025
RUSI, London & Online

Reports appear daily of actual or suspected acts of espionage, sabotage and subversion assumed to have been ordered by or carried out on behalf of Russia, including influence operations designed to affect other states’ political systems. Attacks may be directed at a range of global targets and are delivered by increasingly sophisticated means that make tracing and attribution difficult. Some argue that these activities represent a step change, a new, advanced form of Russian aggression that requires different types of offensive and defensive responses. Covert activities conducted by the Russian state have a long and varied history that can be documented at least as far back as the Bolshevik revolution of 1917, and sometimes into the Tsarist period. A century ago, Russian intelligence organizations were already operating on a global stage and employing a wide range of proxy actors. It can be argued that it is technical means and speed of communication that have evolved, rather than any change in strategic intent or even level of hostile activity. The panelists (Sir John Scarlett, Sir Laurie Bristow, Richard Kerbaj, and Gill Bennett) will discuss the evolution of Russian intelligence, its underlying continuity as well as new developments, and consider how this should inform the response.

More details here.

Spy Chat with Chris Costa and David J. Scott
25 September 2025
The 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 with David J. Scott, former Assistant Director of the Counterterrorism Division at FBI headquarters. Scott retired from the FBI in May 2025 after a distinguished career marked by leadership in national security, criminal investigations, and cyber operations. Scott began his FBI service in 2003 as a Special Agent in Louisville, Kentucky, where he handled a wide range of criminal cases and served on the SWAT team. He later transferred to the Washington Field Office, gaining experience in complex investigations involving organized crime, public corruption, counterterrorism, and white-collar crime. He held several senior leadership positions throughout his career, including Assistant Special Agent in Charge of Counterterrorism for the Washington Field Office, Section Chief of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section, and Deputy Assistant Director for Operations for the Cyber Division. In the latter role, he also served as Director of the National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force, coordinating federal efforts against significant cyber threats. His final field assignment was as Special Agent in Charge of the Washington Field Office’s Criminal/Cyber Division. Before joining the FBI, Scott served as an Infantry officer in the US Army.

More details here.

Conferences:

INSS Disruptive Technology for Future Warfare
04 September 2025
National Defense University, Washington D.C.

Sponsored by the National Defense University’s (NDU) Institute for National Strategic Studies (INSS), this conference addresses the question: How can the Department of Defense (DoD) effectively adapt emerging and disruptive technologies for future warfare and engage the defense industrial base (DIB) to compete with and remain ahead of global adversaries? Speakers will include senior members from the U.S. military and the Department of Defense, as well as representatives from academia, think tanks, and the private sector. The morning panel sessions will focus on Transformative Military and Battlefield Technologies and Information and Intelligence, while the afternoon panels will address Disruptive Biotechnologies and Leveraging Partners and Allies.

The conference will take place on 4 September 2025 at the NDU campus on Fort Lesley J. McNair in Washington, DC. To reserve a spot, please register by 8 August 2025.

More details here.

IAFIE EC and IAFIE Annual Conference: Enhancing Intelligence Competences for a New World of Threats
9-11 September 2025
Aranjuez-Madrid, Spain

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.

More details here.

2025 AFCEA and INSA Intelligence and National Security Summit
18-19 September 2025
National Harbor, Maryland, U.S.

Join us September 18-19 for the 12th annual AFCEA/INSA Intelligence & National Security Summit, the nation's premier unclassified event focused on intelligence and national security. Taking place at the Gaylord National Resort in National Harbor, MD, this flagship event brings together senior leaders from government, industry, and academia for candid, high-impact discussions on the capabilities, technologies, and challenges shaping the U.S. national security mission.

Hear From Senior Leaders: Gain insights from top officials, academic thought leaders, and technical experts on mission priorities.
Explore Game-Changing Technologies: Experience hands-on demonstrations of next-gen technologies transforming intelligence operations.
Connect Across the Community: Networking with 2,000+ professionals from across all segments of public, private, and academic sectors.
Join Mission-Driven Discussion: From AI to acquisition innovation, dive into focused plenaries and breakout discussions on the most urgent national security issues.

More details here.

Symposium on Crisis Early Warning
17-18 September 2025
German Federal Foreign Office, Berlin

We are pleased present the Symposium on Crisis Early Warning organized by the Center for Crisis Early Warning (CCEW) at the University of the Bundeswehr Munich and the German Federal Foreign Office (GFFO) on “The Potential of Data, AI, and Interdisciplinary Analysis in Situational Awareness and Decision Making”. The Symposium on Crisis Early Warning aims to bring together researchers, policy makers, and practitioners in the field to engage in different panels and discussions.

The Symposium on Crisis Early Warning has three aims:

Strengthening interdisciplinary research to advance conflict analysis.
Fostering data-driven strategies for crisis early warning within conflict research.
Establishing a collaborative space for academia, practitioners, policy and decision-makers.

More details here.

Power and Peril: Potentials and Limits of Intelligence
26-28 September 2025
Tutzing, Germany

In an age of digital surveillance, hybrid threats, and global intelligence cooperation, understanding the role of intelligence services is more essential than ever. Yet, the secrecy that surrounds them often keeps these powerful institutions out of public view – and beyond democratic scrutiny. The Akademie für Politische Bildung in cooperation with the International Intelligence History Association invites scholars, students, and professionals to explore how intelligence agencies have shaped recent history and continue to influence our world today. From Cold War legacies to current espionage risks, the program spans a broad range of topics: Clandestine collaboration, counterterrorism strategies, intelligence oversight, and more. Since the ‘Archival Revolution’ of the 1990s, intelligence history has emerged as a dynamic and rapidly growing field. Drawing on newly accessible sources, researchers now offer deeper insights into the inner workings of these secretive organizations. Join us for an engaging exchange at the intersection of history, politics, and security – where past and present intelligence practices meet open scholarly debate.

More details here.

Behörden Spiegel Intelligence Conference: The New Role of Intelligence Services
15-16 October 2025
Hotel Adlon Kempinski Berlin

In view of the global power shifts between the USA, Russia and China and a transatlantic paradigm shift in the Western community of states, the civil and military security architecture of Germany and Europe is facing more fundamental challenges than ever. As the "first line of defense" for our democracy, freedom, prosperity, and future prospects, intelligence services are particularly exposed and have a duty. They are required to be the first to identify and analyze security threats and risks, and to contribute to adequate and timely decision-making by governments and authorities through their reporting and warning functions. The increasingly apparent transatlantic security policy paradigm shift will influence intelligence cooperation between European states, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Japan as like-minded partners. How will the relationship develop between the previous intelligence support of EU decision-making structures and processes (EU-INTCEN, EUMS.INT, SATCEN) and an emerging "coalition of the willing" among EU member states? Under what conditions could EU structures or improved intergovernmental formats for intensified intelligence cooperation emerge? What capabilities must German and European services acquire, what powers must they be granted in order to be able to make the necessary contribution to securing their existence, even with reduced US support, in the face of a growing threat to internal and external security from espionage, cyber operations, sabotage and subversion, including the direct military threat to the European alliance territory from Russian or even distant forces using hybrid means? What consequences will this new situation have for the development of an adequate security architecture in Germany, particularly with regard to the necessary capacity building initiatives of the services, the establishment of a Federal Security Council and a cross-departmental and cross-state Situation and Analysis Center, which in turn will be based on a structure of similar centers in the departments and states?

Specific questions that will also be discussed at this year’s conference are:

What is the status of the personnel, material and structural strengthening of the German intelligence and security services?
What must be done, within the framework of what is constitutionally possible, to ensure that the services are legally adequately strengthened?
Where and in what way does the German security architecture need a technological update in terms of networking, digital security and AI-supported data management, including the establishment of digital platforms for situation assessment and evaluation in the Federal Chancellery and ministries?
How should an effective and efficient federal-state structure be organizationally reflected in the desired joint situation assessment and evaluation?
Can lessons be learned from the European Union's federal cooperation formats, particularly the EU INTCEN and EUMS.INT analysis staffs?
What consequences will the global security policy paradigm shift have for parliamentary and executive oversight bodies and institutions? How will oversight and capacity to act be adjusted?

More details here.

The Annual Israeli Conference in Intelligence Studies: Intelligence Transformations After Failure
28-29 October 2025
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

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 will address the following issues:

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

Registration will open October 1, 2025.

More details here.

Call for Papers:

International Conference Need to Know XIV
Call for Papers: In a World of Mirrors. Intelligence and Disinformation
Abstracts Due: 1 September 2025
Conference: 27-28 November 2025
Kraków, Poland

Many view the Cold War as the peak of intelligence battles and disinformation campaigns. Nevertheless, in recent years, suspicions of Russian influence on the politics of other nations have sparked a resurgence in discussions on deception, influence operations, disinformation, and societal resilience. Sometimes, these operations are intended 'only' to mislead enemy special services; sometimes, they target governments and politicians, and those aimed at entire societies, states, and nations, or even global public opinion, are considered the most dangerous. The names for this phenomenon are plentiful: Denial and deception (D&D), Hybrid Warfare, Subversion, Active Measures, Political Ideological Diversion, and Psychological Warfare. The exact definitions are often blurred and overlapping but have in common the mingling of foreign intelligence services in political and (dis)information struggles.

To intelligence scholars, security authorities, and societies, the correlation between intelligence services and disinformation constitutes a significant challenge. The complicated question is when foreign intelligence services disseminate malign information and when other actors are involved. The consequences of this dilemma are not just academic, as they determine whether disinformation needs to be handled secretly by counterintelligence organizations or whether it is openly addressed by other societal institutions or even by individual citizens. During the Cold War, both the East and the West favored the first variant, albeit on different scales. In the current situation, the options still seem open.

At this year's Need to Know conference, we address topics such as.:

Examples of Intelligence Services’ actual D&D/active measures operations
Intelligence Services countering similar covert measures
The use of true or false information for covert campaigns
Long-time effect of disinformation
Biases in judging the role of Intelligence Services’ role in disinformation
Consequences of misunderstanding covert disinformation
The agent of influence and front organizations
Media and conduits of disinformation

The Need to Know conferences stimulate research and discussions on intelligence history, focusing on the 20th and 21st Centuries. A core focus is to explore new information and interpretations following the opening of archives in the East and West. The papers should be based on firm empirical documentation. The conference's language is English. The deadline for paper proposals is September 1, 2025. The submission should include an abstract of 500–700 words in English and a biographical note listing significant professional accomplishments (250 words in English). The Conference Program Committee will notify selected speakers by September 15, 2025.

More details here.