SpyCast

SummaryDaniel Milton (Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss Tactical Interrogation Reports of the former Caliph of the Islamic State. Al-Mawla was killed in a U.S. raid in February 2022. What You’ll LearnIntelligence The ideological feud between Islamic State and Al Qaeda  Islamic State's retreat from a quasi-state centered to a shadowy insurgency Battlefield intelligence such as “exploitable material” and “interrogation reports” The role of the Combating Terrorism Center in analyzing this intelligence Reflections Training your people for the current fight…and the next one  The trade-off between a short-term view and a longer-term view And much, much more…Episode NotesThis week’s episode focuses on battlefield intelligence, or more specifically a series of tactical interrogation reports from 2008. Ok, so why are they significant? Well, the individual being interrogated, Al Mawla, would go on to become the second leader and so-called Caliph of the Islamic State. Ok, so why are they significant beyond that…well, it turns out that Al Mawla was an informant who gave away colleagues and friends to save his own skin, leading to the nickname, “The Canary Caliph.”Daniel Milton joined Andrew to discuss these reports and what they mean in the broader scheme of things. Daniel is the Director of Research at the Combatting Terrorism Center at West Point, and he has a Ph.D. from FSU. He has been cited in outlets such as The NYT, BBC, and NBC News and he regularly briefs all levels of the Government, including the Intelligence Community and Department of Defense.And…In February 2022, Al Mawla became the second Islamic State Caliph to blow himself up during a U.S. raid. His predecessor Abu-Bakr al-Baghdadi had done so in October 2019. I wonder what will happen to the third Caliph…Quote of the Week"I think that's one of my favorite things about looking at this type of material is that it really gives an inside view to organizations that are clandestine and usually not seen very well from the outside, but these documents paint a very vivid picture of struggles, challenges, bureaucratic minutia, whatever the case might be, which is not typically how we think about these organizations, but these documents really allow us to see that." – Daniel MiltonResources*Headline Resources* Al Mawla Interrogation Reports CTC Sentinel  Books Enemies Near & Far, D. Gartenstein-Ross (CUP, 2022) The ISIS Reader, Ingram et al. (Hurst, 2020) The Rise of Global Jihad, T. Hegghammer (CUP, 2020) Foreign Fighters in the Armies of Jihad, D. Byman (OUP, 2019) Anatomy of Terror, A. Soufan (W.W. Norton, 2017) The Far Enemy, F. Gerges (CUP, 2005) Best Books on the Middle East (Five Books) Articles ISIS Leader Quraishi Kills Himself, Al-Khalidi & Bose, Reuters (2022) ISIS’S Leadership Crisis, H. Ingram and C. Whiteside, Foreign Affairs (2022) The Islamic State in Afghanistan, A. Jadoon et al., CTC (2022) The Cloud Caliphate, Ayad et al., CTC (2021) Lessons from the Islamic State’s “Milestone” Texts and Speeches, Ingram et al., CTC (2020) Timeline: The Rise, Spread & Fall of the Islamic State, C. Glenn et al., Wilson Center (2019) Documentary Iraq & Syria: After Islamic State, BBC (2018) Confronting ISIS, PBS Frontline (2016) WebOperation Inherent ResolvePrimary Sources President Biden on a Successful Counterterrorism Operation (2022) Cyber Command’s Internet War Against ISIL (2018) Islamic State Memo for Dealing with New Recruits (2017) Message to the Mujahidin and the Muslim Ummah, Caliph Al Baghdadi (2014) Zawahiri’s Letter to Zarqawi (2005) The Sykes-Picot Agreement (1916) Wildcard Resource “The America I Have Seen” An account of his time living in the U.S. by theorist of violent jihad Sayyid Qutb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryThomas Leahy (Website; LinkedIn) and Eleanor Williams (Website; Twitter) join Andrew to discuss the intelligence war during “the Troubles.” Thomas lives in Cardiff and Eleanor lives in Belfast. What You’ll LearnIntelligence The Troubles through the lens of intelligence Some key intelligence players in the Northern Ireland conflict How the IRA and the British Army adapted organizationally The role intelligence played in the end of the conflict Reflections The fluid nature of motivations and intentions How historic narratives shape and constrain the here-and-now And much, much more…Episode NotesFrom the late 60’s to the late 90’s Republican and Loyalist paramilitaries, and the British and Irish states, were engaged in a period known as “the Troubles”: a struggle to define or redefine the future of the island of Ireland. This is an issue with deep and complex roots, but the intelligence dimension of the period known as the Troubles is fascinating and often overlooked.To help us get our head around it all, Andrew sat down with two specialists to discuss all things intelligence and the Troubles: from the role that MI5 and MI6 played, to the Force Research Unit and the RUC Special Branch, through to how the IRA played the counterintelligence game and the role that informers, agents and moles, such as the notorious “Stakeknife,” played. Thomas is the author of the Intelligence War Against the IRA, while Eleanor is a doctoral candidate comparing intelligence use during the Northern Irish and Colombian conflicts. And…The head of the Republic of Ireland’s police and security intelligence force, the Garda Síochána, is Drew Harris. Drew Harris was a career Royal Ulster Constabulary officer whose father, also a career RUC officer, was killed by the IRA in 1989. He was the first external appointee from outside the Garda.Quote of the Week"What's their [IRA] main role in this intelligence conflict?...one of the key points here…the IRA was quite highly regional regionalized. That's actually quite key to explain why British intelligence had some difficulties against them…Initially, it was set up similar to armed forces. It would have brigades, battalions and companies…the IRA operated this kind of army structure up to 1975…the IRA then switched to this new strategy…And part of this was to prevent mass infiltration, which had started to become a problem, particularly in Belfast pre-1975. So, what it adopted in Belfast and Derry was a cell structure." – Thomas LeahyResourcesBooks The Intelligence War Against the IRA, T. Leahy (CUP, 2020) Britain’s Secret War Against the IRA, A. Edwards (Merrion, 2021) Thatcher’s Spy, W. Carlin (Merrion, 2019) The Accidental Spy, S. O’Driscoll (Mirror, 2019) Snitch! S. Hewitt (Continuum, 2010) Infiltrating the IRA, R. Gilmour (LB&C, 1998) Fifty Dead Men Walking, M. McGartland (Blake, 1997) Best Books on the Troubles (Five Books) Articles The Murky World of Spying During the Troubles, J. Ware, Irish Times (2017) Alternative Ulster: How Punk Took on the Troubles, T. Heron, Irish Times (2016) AudioMI5 Chameleon Infiltrated New IRADocumentary Spotlight on the Troubles: A Secret History, BBC (2019) The Spy in the IRA, BBC (2017) Web  Operation Kenova MI5 in Northern Ireland  Primary Sources IRA-MI6 Intermediary: Interviews with Brendan Duddy (2009) Good Friday Agreement (1998) Downing Street Declaration (1993) Anglo-Irish Agreement (1985) Thatcher Speech at Airey Neave Memorial (1979) IRA Green Book (1977) PM Wilson & Thatcher discuss N. Ireland (1975) Secret Meetings Between Government and IRA (1972) Senator E. Kennedy, Ulster is Britain’s Vietnam (1971) IRA Reports on Intelligence Informants (1922)  W.B. Yeats, “Easter: 1916” (1921) Oral Sources Duchas Oral History Archive (2014)Wildcard Resource “Murals of Northern Ireland” (4500+ Photographs) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummarySean Maloney (Website) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the secret history of emergency war plans and the nuclear doomsday machine. He was the first Canadian civilian historian to go into combat since WWII. What You’ll LearnIntelligence Top secret emergency war plans for WWIII The role of human intelligence operations in nuclear doomsday planning Some key terms you need to understand the nuclear issue The policy of “massive retaliation” versus “flexible response” Reflections Movies to scare yourself by The best and worst of humanity Episode NotesSean Maloney is a force of nature. The first Canadian civilian historian to go into combat since WWII - he went to Afghanistan eleven times, survived multiple attempts on his life, and two bomb attacks. “I’ve been shot at, rocketed, mortared, all of it.” He is also a Professor at the Royal Military College of Canada and the author of more than a dozen books, including the “Rogue Historian in Afghanistan” trilogy, as well as another trilogy in the form of the official history of the Canadian Army in Afghanistan. He is never happier, though, than when wading through secret nuclear war plans and documents. Coming on the back of Learning to Love the Bomb (2007) and The Secret History of Nuclear War Films (2020), he returns to “Nukes” in Emergency War Plan: The American Doomsday Machine. Sean has been described as intense and unorthodox, but I found him intense and unorthodox.“Megadeath” is a unit of measurement for nuclear war, equivalent to the death of one million people. It is crazy that as a species we have reached the point where we now have a term for it.Quote of the Week"We have public pronouncements…We have the media and academic discussion of the public pronouncements, but then there's the strategy itself. Which is usually highly classified…that's what I'm getting at with the Emergency War Plan book…you can see all the factors that fed into that, including the intelligence and the intelligence directly affects the plan…there is a direct relationship between the intelligence and the targeting, but it's also in terms of collection of information to get the bombers to the target…that's important because, to have a deterrent posture, that's credible, you have to demonstrate that you're capable of carrying it out." ResourcesSpyCasts The Nuclear Emergency Search Team – Jack Doyle Nuclear Information Project – Matt Korda Nuclear Threats – Jeffrey Lewis Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner – Daniel Ellsberg Spooks and Nukes – James Acton  Books Restricted Data: A History of Nuclear Secrecy in the US, A. Wallerstein (UCP, 2021) The Bomb, S. Kaplan (S&S, 2020) Raven Rock, G. Graff (S&S, 2017) My Journey at the Nuclear Brink, W. Perry (SUP, 2015) The Making of the Atomic Bomb, R. Rhodes (S&S, 1987) Best Books on Nuclear (Five Books) Articles How Many Nuclear Weapons Does Russia Have in 2022? Kristensen & Korda, Bulletin (2022) Doomsday Clock at 100 Seconds to Midnight, Bulletin (2022) The Cold Comfort of MAD, J. Castillo, War on the Rocks (2021) Video 282 Interviews: War and Peace in the Nuclear Age, PBS (1986-89) Power of Decision, USAF (1958) Documentary Sources H. G. Wells – The World Set Free (1914) W.S. Churchill - Shall We All Committ Suicide? (1924) Einstein to Roosevelt (1939) The MAUD Report (1941) The Quebec Agreement (1943) Hiroshima, J. Hersey, New Yorker (1946) The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb, H.L. Stimson, Harpers (1946) McMahon Act (1946) Truman Announcing First Soviet Bomb (1949) Atoms for Peace – Eisenhower Speech (1953) History of SIOP-62 (1961) Joint Chiefs of Staff Memorandum (1971) The Effects of Nuclear Weapons (1977 [1950]) The Effects of Nuclear War (1979) Oral Sources Voices of the Manhattan Project US Strategic Nuclear Policy, 1945-2004 Wildcard Resource Threads, Movie (M. Jackson, 1984) “Arguably, the most devastating piece of television ever produced” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryVolko Ruhnke (Website; Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his life and career in the CIA as an analyst and designer of board games. He is a former World Board Game Champion.What You’ll LearnIntelligence Designing board games to teach CIA analysts Moonlighting as an award-winning board game designer while working at CIA Similarities and differences between intelligence analysis and board-games  The difference between role-play games and board-games in training national security professionals Reflections Humans are good models of humans  Volko’s journey from Virginia to the CIA via William & Mary and the U.S. Army And more…Episode Notes Volko Ruhnke is a helluva interesting guy. He grew up as an avid board gamer raised on stories of the French and Indian War, which led him to design the 2001 winner of the best pre-WWII boardgame Wilderness War. His time at the CIA after 9/11 then led him to design the 2010 winner of the best post-WWII boardgame Labyrinth, where players were immersed in the operational and ideological aspects of the Global War on Terror. It doesn’t stop there, though, he has also designed a series of counter-insurgency games such as Andean Abyss, which focused on 1990’s Columbia, and Fire in the Lake, a multi-faction treatment of the Vietnam War.While teaching a new generation of intelligence analysts, Volko combined both of his passions to help them understand the complexity and open-endedness of the real-world via board games. As an analyst himself, Volko looked at the Soviet & Russian military and counter-proliferation, before going on to be Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Science and Technology at the National Intelligence Council, and then on the Presidents Daily Brief (PDB) staff to brief cabinet level officials. And…Volko is now a commercial board game designer, and you can get quite a few of his games here – but not all of them. One day historians, one day…Quote of the Week"Games allow you to get inside and operate the machine yourself and do experiments and pull a lever or push a button and see what happens. And because it's happening on the tabletop, rather than say, in a computer program, you, you can understand it very well. You can see exactly why what just happened. So, I became among others, a promulgator of, of that particular medium for teaching as well as for analysis." - Volko RuhnkeResourcesSpyCasts Intelligence Analysis in the 21st Century - Mark Lowenthal Modern Intelligence Analysis: From Art to Science? Books Storytelling in the Modern Boardgame, A. Arnaudo (McFarland, 2018) White King & Red Queen: Cold War on the Chessboard, D. Johnson (Mariner, 2008) Best Books on Play (Five Books) Articles All the World’s a Game, C. Hadavas, Foreign Policy (2021) Digital Version of Counter-Terror Game Labyrinth, J. Bolding, PCGamer (2020)  Winning Edge: Board Game Used by the U.S. Army, P. Suciu, National Interest (2020) Why the CIA Uses Board Games to Train Officers, S. Larson, CNN (2017) The CIA Uses Board Games to Train Officers, S. Machkovech, ArsTechnica (2017) Making Board Games for the CIA, C. Hall, Polygon (2017) Political Board Games Change View of World, M. Thrower, Guardian (2015) Volko Ruhnke Has Become a Hero, J. Albert, WaPo (2014) Video We Review CIA’s Classified Board Game, Two Bats Gaming, (YouTube, 2018)Primary Sources Kingpin: The Hunt for El Chapo (CIA, 2018) Collection Deck (CIA, 2017) Whodunnit? (Wapo, 1985) Wildcard Resource Lego ® Serious Play ® Game Used by Fortune 500 companies, unleasher of talent, and serious fun! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryHans Holmer (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his time as a CIA operations officer and his transition to a cyber strategist. He served on every continent except South America and won a CIA Intelligence Star.What You’ll LearnIntelligence The advantages for a case officer growing up in two cultures and speaking multiple languages before joining the IC The tech person trained to be a case officer vs. a case officer trained to be a tech person debate That no amount of technology will make up for a lack of “cyber strategy” The concept of “digital dandruff” Reflections Growing up in Denmark, moving to the US for high school, joining the Army then CIA Privatizing information gains but collectivizing information losses What it was like to program back in 1973! And more…Episode Notes Hans Holmer describes the cat-and-mouse of surveillance and counter-surveillance the most fun you can have (a) in public and (b) sober. Ever wondered how you go from a CIA case officer in the Sub-continent, to a technical counterintelligence evangelist who travelled the world, to a cyber strategist living in Vienna, Austria?To find out, listen to this week’s episode where you’ll find Hans thoughtful and articulate, but I think you will also appreciate his forthright views on corporate data leaks and digital personal responsibility. He originally got in touch to talk about the Operation Silver, the British intelligence operation that covertly tapped the communications of the Soviet Army HQ in Vienna, at SPY we actually have a piece – yes, an actual piece – of the Berlin Tunnel, which was a successor operation – betrayed by communist MI6 officer George Blake – which borrowed heavily from Silver: it was even called Operation Gold!The monitoring station in Op. Silver was disguised as a tweed clothing shop on the assumption that no one in Vienna would be interested in Scottish clothing! Hans actually tracked down the modern site of the tweed store and is trying to dig (no pun intended) for further information on the operation – can anyone help…?Quote of the Week"I've been arguing that the way to improve cyber security in the U.S. is very simple. Any company that loses personally identifiable information, payment card information, healthcare information, HIPAA data, or access to critical infrastructure, has to pay each victim a dollar a day from the beginning of the breach till it's been closed off…the average breach lasts about a hundred days…some of the more recent breaches are a hundred million people. So, imagine a hundred million people who get a dollar a day for a hundred days. Companies would take that seriously." ResourcesSpyCasts “Operation Gold” - Steve Vogel & Bernd von Kostka (Berlin Tunnel) “George Blake, Happy Traitor” – Simon Kuper (Berlin Tunnel) Zero Days – Nicole Perloth Part I and II (Cyber) “The Cyber Zeitgeist” – Dave Bittner (Cyber) “Snowden & Surveillance” – Barton Gellman (Cyber) Books Betrayal in Berlin, S. Vogel (CH, 2019) Spymaster – MI6 Chief Oldfield, M. Pearce (Transworld, 2016)  Documents on the Intelligence War in Berlin, D. Steury (CSI, 1999) Best Books on Cybersecurity (Five Books) Articles “Engineering the Berlin Tunnel,” SII (2008) “Betrayal in Berlin - Review,” WaPo (2019) Documentaries The Great Hack, Noujaim & Amer (2019) Zero Days, A. Gibney (2016) Education Cyber Training Series (DNI) The Danger of Stone Age Habits in a Cyber World (HSToday, 2019) Primary Sources Cyber Security Officer (CIA, 2022) CIA Director Burns - Cyber (WSJ, 2021) National Cyber Strategy of the USA (WH, 2018) Interview with CIA Director Brennan - Cyber (NPR, 2016) The IC’s Role Within Cyber R&D (FAS, 2013) Remarks by DNI Clapper at HPSCI (DNI, 2011) Securing Critical Infrastructure in the Age of Stuxnet (HSGA, 2010) Mail Service of the Soviet Army in Austria (CIA, 1955) Wildcard Resource “Technical Counterintelligence Officer,” INTEL.gov  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryEnrique “Ric” Prado (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his new memoir “Black Ops.” One of the most renowned CIA officers of his generation tells his story.BookYou can buy Ric’s book, Black Ops, and support the International Spy Museum’s mission here.What You’ll LearnIntelligence His time as CIA Counterterrorist Chief of Operations which included 9/11 His career battling communist insurgents and Islamic terrorists on multiple continents His experience living in “Contra” camps during the Nicaraguan Revolution His time as Dep. Chief of Station and co-founding member of the Bin Laden Task Force Reflections Conquering your emotions to stay focused in a crisis His journey fleeing the Cuban Revolution as a young boy to CIA via USAF Pararescue And much, much more…Episode NotesRic Prado spent twenty-four-years in the CIA – and what a twenty-four years it was. His first 36 months were in the jungles of Central America as the first CIA officer to live among the “Contras,” including a period with the Miskito Native people; indeed, the photos he took ending up on the desk of CIA Director Bill Casey. So, what was it like at the pointy end of the Reagan Doctrine’s anti-communist spear, or as CIA Counterterrorist Center Chief of Ops during 9/11?To find out, and to hear more about Ric’s storied career, Andrew sat down with him for this week’s episode. One of the meanings of the noun “legend” is “a story coming down from the past.” Many people who were in the business at the CIA and elsewhere will have heard the stories that come down from the past re Enrique “Ric” Prado, but now we all have a chance to hear Ric set the record straight in his own words. And…If Ric’s communist uncle hadn’t alerted the family that his school intended to send him off to the Soviet Union as a promising student for further education…if he hadn’t taken an Oceanography class at Miami Dade College and met someone who led him to USAF Pararescue…if he hadn’t been tipped off that he was to be killed in a Contra camp during the night and extricated himself from the situation…as Bob Dylan said, summing up so much of the human condition, “one more time, for a simple twist of fate.”Quote of the Week"The wiring was there and the mentoring from my dad…then the trip to the orphanage. And then definitely when I got into pararescue…being one of our special operations forces, the training is very, very intense…And making it through SERE school, making it through mountain climbing school. There's a certain level of conquering your emotions that you have to do…But I think that the most important thing was that I believed in what I was doing." – Ric PradoResourcesSpyCast Episodes In the CT Center on 9/11, C. Storer A Life in the CIA, Hank Crumpton Interview with Cofer Black CT, Nicholas Rasmussen CT Strategy: P. Bergen & C. Costa Rethinking CT: J. Blazakis Books The Reagan Doctrine, J. Scott (DUP, 1996)  The Real Contra War, T. Brown (UOP, 2001) Insurgency to Stability, “The Philippines,” Rabasa et al., (RAND, 2011) Shining Path’s Politics of War, C. Degregori (UWP, 2012) Red Revolution: Philippine Guerillas, G. Jones (Routeledge, 2019) The Shining Path, Starn & Serna (Norton, 2019) US Relations with Latin America (Five Books) Articles “Shining Path Leader Dead,” BBC (2021) “Nicaragua Veers to Dictatorship,” J. Cordoba, WSJ (2021) Documentaries Nicaragua Was Our Home (L. Shapiro, 1985) Ballad of the Little Soldier (W. Herzog, 1985) Primary Sources President Carter to Somoza (Brown, 1979) Reagan Covert Ops. Nicaragua (NSA, 1981) US Aid to Nicaragua (1982) Reagan Covert Ops. Nicaragua (Brown, 1983) Goldwater to Casey, “I’m Pissed Off” (Brown, 1984) Reagan State Of The Union (APP, 1985) Reagan Address Nicaragua (ReaganLib, 1986) Contras Lost Congress (WaPo, 1986) 25 Years of the NPA (Hartford, 1994)  Wildcard ResourceThe Clash, Sandanista (Album, 1980) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryJ. Scott Cameron (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the National Intelligence University (NIU). He is the President of this unique “skiffed” institution.What You’ll LearnIntelligenceo  The NIU – what it is, what it does, and what it does differently.o  NIU’s position within the American intelligence ecosystemo  How NIU “banks knowledge” without compromising intelligenceo  What it is like to be a student in a Top Secret/Sensitive Compartmentalized Information (TS-SCI) research facilityReflectionso  20th century institutions for 21st century problemso  Scott’s journey from a plant biologist who has been shot at, to his recruitment into the IC at a high school soccer match, to NIU PresidentAnd much more…Quote of the Week"We do work in secret. So how do you bank knowledge in that kind of a community? All communities that are healthy bank knowledge and learn from it. So, our job is not just to be a classroom, but to be that defender of knowledge building in the community to make sure that we're learning from ourselves, that we understand ourselves and advance our mission by better ideas and then empowering the next generation to take those and equip them with the confidence to go out there and do something with it." – Scott CameronEpisode Notes“TS-SCI” is one of the major terms you will hear with regards to American intelligence, but what happens if you cross that with the concept of “the university,” a place that relies on sharing information, pooling knowledge, and the free flow of ideas? To find out how this circle is squared, Andrew sat down with President of the National Intelligence University, Scott Cameron.The NIU, which is housed at the Intelligence Community Campus Bethesda (ICCB), alongside our friends at the NCSC and quite a few other agencies, is unique in many ways. It is behind “guards, guns, and gates,” you need TS-SCI clearance to apply, and tuition is courtesy of the government. The staff-student ratio is also in the very top tier of the 4000 or so degree granting institutions in the United States. It transitioned from the DIA to the ODNI in June of 2021.And…Scott’s grandmother was from Glasgow, as was Allan Pinkerton, Bobby Thompson, Craig Ferguson, and Christina Conte (try her fish n’ chips recipe!). Incidentally, there are many more Glasgow’s in the United States than in Scotland, at 21.Further ResourcesSpyCast Episodes·     Joint Special Operations University President “Ike” WilsonVirtual Exhibition·     Wall of Spies (ICC-B) Books·     China’s Artificial Intelligence Ecosystem, R. Uber (2020)·     History of American Higher Ed., R. Geiger (2016)·     Higher Ed. & the Growth of Knowledge, M. Segre (2015)·     NIU’s Role in Interagency Research, Johnson et al. (2013)Articles·     Eisenhower Signs National Defense Intelligence Ed. Act (Politico, 2018)·     Goldwater-Nichols & the Evolution of JPME (CRS, 2016)·     The Origins of JPME (JFQ, 2005)Audio·     NIU Moving Under ODNI Umbrella (FedNewsNet, 2021)Websites·     NIU Degrees (NIU)·     NIU Catalog, 2021-22 (NIU)·     College of Strategic Intelligence (NIU)·     School of Science & Technology Intelligence (NIU)·     Institute for Intelligence Research (NIU)·     IC Centers for Academic Excellence (DNI)Primary Sources·     The American Scholar, R. Waldo Emerson (Em.Cent., 1837)·     The Idea of a University, J. H. Newham (1852, 1858)·     National Defense Education Act of 1958 (FedEdPolicy)·     Degree Granting Authority for NIU (GovInfo, 2012)·     US Intelligence Community’s Human Capital Vision 2020 (DNI, 2014)·     The National Intelligence Strategy of the US (DNI, 2019)·     NIC - Global Trends 2040 (DNI, 2021)Wildcard ResourceHow to set up a “SCIF,” aka:·  “Technical Specifications for Construction & Management of Sensitive Compartmented Information Facilities” (DNI, 2020) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryDavid Fricker (Website; LinkedIn) had the No.2 job at Australia’s security and intelligence agency ASIO. He sat down with Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the relationship between this role and his most recent one as Director-General of the National Archives of Australia.What You’ll Learn…Intelligenceo  ASIO, the Australian intelligence landscape and the regiono  His role as CIO and then Deputy-Director General of ASIOo  The role major allies & partners play including the US and Five Eyes (FVEY)o  David’s views on intelligence and public trustReflectionso  David’s abiding interest in the power of informationo  The importance of museums and archives in a knowledge societyAnd much more…Episode NotesEver wondered what it would be like to go from gamekeeper to poacher, spy chief to chief archivist and - as this week's guest said tongue-in-cheek - the “biggest blabber-mouth in the country”?If the answer is yes, you’ll appreciate this week’s guest David Fricker, who has had all manner of interesting jobs, including a ten-year stint with the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), akin to the FBI and MI5, followed by ten years with the National Archives of Australia.By way of information, the “Australian Intelligence Community” is also comprised of: the Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS), similar to the CIA; Defence Intelligence Organisation (DIO), similar to the DIA; the Australian Signals Directorate (ASD), similar to the NSA; and Australian Geo-spatial Intelligence Organization (AGO), similar to the NGA; and Office of National Intelligence (ONI), similar to the ODNI.And… David was a pretty mean COBOL programmer back in the day, a computer language that grew out of a Department of Defence sponsored program to find a common business language. You can learn it here. It is a legacy software system across the U.S. government and you can command six-figure salaries if you can program in it: any retirement plans David?Quote of the Week"I think what the SPY museum does and what I hope we do at the National Archives in Australia, gets back to the public...some of it can be quite entertaining. It can be quite engaging and fun, but the work we do has got a serious message as well. And I think it's to make sure the public in a liberal democracy, the public should know. What espionage, what spycraft is all about." – David Fricker Further ResourcesSpyCastso  “Desperately, Madly in Love” – Brett Peppler and the Australian ICo  “I was a Presidential Daily Briefer on 9/11” – Mike Morell & President BushVirtual Exhibitiono  Spy: Espionage in Australia (NAA)Bookso  Spies & Sparrows: ASIO & the Cold War, P. Deery (2022)o  Between Five Eyes, A. Wells (2020)o  Intelligence & the Function of Government, D. Baldino & E. Crawley (2018)o  The Official History of ASIO – 3 Volumes, D. Horner, J. Blaxland, R. Crawley (2014/2015/2016)Articleso  “Strategic Intelligence Practice in the Australian IC,” P. Walsh & M. Harrison, INS, 2021)o  “The Post-9/11 Evolution of an Australian National Security Community,” D. Jones, INS (2016)o  “ASIO Debate”, L. Clohesy, The Conversation (2014)Audioo  Spymasters & Secret Agents: the Birth of ASIO (ABC, 2022)o  ASIO’s Official History, J. Blaxland (The Conversation, 2015)Documentaryo  Final Rendezvous (ABC, 2020)Websiteso  ASIO (ASIO)o  NAA (NAA)Primary Sourceso  Letter to Petrov from Prime Minister Menzies (1954)o  Royal Commission on Espionage Report (1955)o  ASIO Report on Ric Throssell (1971-74, NAA)o  Report on ASIO (NLA, 1977)o  Australian Intelligence, 1900-1950 (NAA, 1977)o  Soviet Embassy Contact with Members of Parliament (1971-86)o  ASIO Annual Report 2020-21 (2021, ASIO)Further Researcho  History of Intelligence & Security (NAA)o  US-Australia Diplomatic Oral Histories (ADST)Wildcard ResourcePine Gapo  A fictional portrayal of a real-world AUS-US spy site in Central Australia (Netflix, 2018) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryJoe Weisberg (Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his new book on Russia. Joe is the creator of award-winning TV drama The Americans and a former CIA officer.What You’ll LearnIntelligenceo  His past experience as a hardliner who loved to hate the “evil empire”o  His thoughts on a trip through the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe in the twilight of the Cold War, especially experiencing it as an American Jewo  His interpretation of the KGB and Vladimir Putino  His take on the “moral equivalency” argument and U.S. foreign policy·Reflectionso  The role of complexity vs. simplicity in understanding “the Other”o  Joe’s journey from the Chicago suburbs of Illinois to Langley to New York CityAnd much, much more…Episode Notes“How dare you, Joe Weisberg, make me rethink my comfortable loathing of the Russians.” Not Andrew’s words, but those of former chief of CIA counterintelligence James Olson in an encomium for the book (albeit a little tongue-in-cheek). If that is not enough to get you intrigued in Joe’s new book, Russia Upside Down, then perhaps the sub-title will, An Exit Strategy for the Second Cold War. So how do we get out of the Second Cold War?To find out Joe’s diagnosis and prognosis, and much else besides, Andrew sat down with him for this week’s episode. A fair number of listeners will know of Joe as creator of the award-winning and hugely popular TV series, The Americans, some may even know that he had a three-and-a-half-year stint in the CIA where he trained to be a case officer; a few may even be a know him from his stint at the Agency which began on the eve of the dissolution of the Soviet Union.And…The Americans is set in and around NoVa which is replete with all manner of famous sites from intelligence history – including the Arlington home of real-life Russian illegals Nataliya Pereverzeva and Michael Zottoli Mikhail Kutsik who were rolled up by the FBI in 2010 as part of Operation Ghost Stories” which we cover in our exhibits.Quote of the Week"When I was working at the CIA and in my younger years, I had a very one-dimensional view of this evil empire, this totalitarian state that we had to fight because we were the good guys, and we were the bad guys. And the book that I've written is essentially a kind of argument with myself or me with my younger self to say, huh, I think you were not looking at that in all the complexity that you might have." – Joe WeisbergFURTHER RESOURCESSpyCastso  KGB Illegal Jack Barsky here and hereo  The Spymasters Prism: CIA Legend Jack Devine on Countering Russian Aggressiono  2010 Russian Spy Case – KGB Major General Oleg Kalugino  Spy Sites of Washington D.C.Bookso  Putin’s People: How the KGB Took Back Russia, Catherine Belton (2020)o  The New Tsar: Rise & Reign of Vladimir Putin, Steven Lee Myers (2016).o  Spy Handler: Memoir of a KGB Officer - The Man Who Recruited Robert Hanssen & Aldrich Ames, Victor Cherkashin (2004)o  The Caucasus, Thomas De Waal (2018)o  Khrushchev's Thaw and National Identity in Soviet Azerbaijan, Jamil Hasanli (2014)o  The Best Books on Contemporary Russia (Five Books)Articleso  “Dictatorship and Double Standards,” Jeane Kirkpatrick, Commentary (1979)o  NATO Enlargement & Russia (NATO, 2014)o  “False Equivalence” & “Tu Quoque”, IEPDocumentarieso  The Putin Interviews (ShowTime, 2017)o  Cold War 2.0, Vice/HBO (2015)Primary Sourceso  Russian-Chinese Relations (CIA, 1998)o  Putin’s Munich Speech, (WaPo, 2007)o  Interview With KGB/SVR Illegal (Chekist Monitor, 2020)o  U.S. Ambassadors to Russia Interviewed (NSA)o  US-Russia Oral Histories (ADST)o  Archival Research on Russia (NSA)Enjoy the show? Please leave a review here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

SummaryDavid Cattler (Twitter; LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss how intelligence functions at NATO. He is the NATO Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security.What You’ll Learno  What it is like to be the leader of intelligence and security across the largest peacetime alliance in history?o  How does intelligence come together at NATO – who are the key-players, institutions, and stakeholders?o  What are some of the main challenges facing the Alliance including Russia and Cyber?o  “Reading” an institution and its key playerso  The importance of “soft skills” in professional lifeEpisode NotesEvery polisci student knows from their Plato to NATO class, that NATO is (a) considered the most successful alliance of its kind in history and (b) was founded in 1949. As you can imagine, intelligence is incredibly important to the whole endeavor, so why has NATO only had an intelligence supremo since 2016?To find out the answer, and much else besides, Andrew sat down with David Cattler. David is (a) the principal advisor on intelligence to the NATO Secretary General and (b) the lead for coordinating intelligence relationships between NATO and the 75 individual intelligence agencies across its 30 constituent nations (talk about herding cats).With Russian forces built up on the Ukrainian border in February 2022, the timing of this episode is, well, germane.And…Andrew picked David up outside the U.S. Department of State and drove him to the SpyCast studio at SPY – if the traffic is right, you can do it in under 10 minutes!Quote of the Week "The secretary general is my boss but imagine him in this context to put it in a different frame is that he is the CEO of a large international conglomerate that engages in multiple business lines. And I am the CEO of the business line for intelligence and security. The nation's intelligence services in effect are my corporate board. So, they provide that governance and the oversight for all the work." – David CattlerFurther ResourcesSpyCastso  Able Archer 83: An Interview with Nate Joneso  Our Latest Long War: An Interview with Ben JonesBookso  Enduring Alliance: A History of NATO & the Postwar Global Order, Timothy Andrews Sayle (2019)o  How NATO Adapts: Strategy & Organization in the Alliance Since 1950, Seth A. Johnson (2017)o  The Memoirs of General Lord Ismay, Lord Ismay (1960)o  Present at the Creation, Dean Acheson (1969)o  The Best Books on Contemporary Russia (Five Books)Videoo  What is NATO, Why Does it Exist, and How Does it Work? (NATO)o  How Does a Country Join NATO? (NATO)Documentaryo  The Cold War, Narrated by Kenneth Branagh (CNN 1998)Websiteso  NATO Declassified (NATO)o  NATO (Atlantic Council)o  NATO (RUSI)Primary Sourceso  The North Atlantic Treaty (1949)o  Address by Harry S. Truman on the Signing of the North Atlantic Treaty (1949)o  North Atlantic Council – First Session – Summary Minutes (1949)o  Historical Holdings on NATO (Eisenhower Library)o  The NATO Problem: French Forces in Europe (CIA, 1966)o  Being NATO’s Secretary General on 9/11 (2011)o  USNATO Oral Histories (ADST)Enjoy the show? Please leave a review here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices