🚨AHRC Curiosity Project Launch and Roundtable: ‘The Afterlives of Cambridge Spies’

🗓Wednesday, March 18, 2026
🕔17:00-18:30 GMT
📍Durham University (online option available)

🔗 Register here: forms.office.com/e/TxVEvgjvcn

👉🏼More about the project: kcsi.uk/the-afterliv...

Invisible Formatting

Today's PhD writing concern is brought to you via this classic from xkcd:

xkcd.com/2109/

A good read 👍🏻

UK launched huge operation to find suspected Russian double agent in MI6 Exclusive: Operation Wedlock lasted up to 20 years and took MI5 teams across world amid panic about ‘another Philby’

More detail on the MI6 molehunt I first revealed in my book "The Spy in the Archive' coming out of the Guardian today...... www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2025...

I'm always a fan of 'citations provided' 👍🏻

Let’s start with a critical point:
Not all disordered discourse leads to institutional capture.
Some narratives, like Flat Earth or Bigfoot conspiracies, remain fringe, self-contained, and irrelevant to policy.

But others infiltrate formal institutions, and that’s where the danger escalates.

Younger individuals more likely to endorse conspiracy beliefs A recent study found that conspiracy beliefs slightly decrease with age. Younger individuals tend to have stronger beliefs, linked to lower self-esteem, political dissatisfaction, and a preference for...

A meta analysis has found that
conspiracy beliefs tend to decrease slightly with age. In other words, young people are more susceptible to conspiracy beliefs. This is why we must embed long-term strategies ie critical thinking & analytical reasoning into school curriculum #Misinformation

I believe so! Though, the proof of the pudding will be in the multi-year eating, I guess.

The book cover of 'Watching the Jackals' authored by Daniela Richterova and published by the Georgetown University Press.

📚✨ Exciting news! Our #KCSI member, @drichterova.bsky.social's book #WatchingTheJackals is now out! 🎉

This gripping work unveils #Czechoslovakia's complex ties with #MiddleEastern terrorists during the #ColdWar. 🌍🕵️‍♂️ Based on declassified #intelligence files & #interviews, it’s a must-read! 👇

“May you burn in hell like you are going to burn here.” That feels like the kind of thing that needs putting on a t-shirt or mug, at least.

Some books just need to be in one's personal library.

Going beyond geopolitical analysis and good intelligence in the…

Next up on our Insights blog is a contribution from John Taylor about the importance of psychology in intelligence assessments relating to Putin. Check it out here: kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

Does this mean anyone that somehow ends up being accused of pushing these foreign interference 'hoaxes' can deploy standard conspiracy theory logic in their defence?

Intelligence Studies and Practitioners Join the conversation

If I've done this right, here is a starter pack I've put together on intelligence studies and practitioners. It tilts toward historians but includes people with useful perspectives from any direction. It focuses mostly on governmental intel rather than private sector or non-governmental open source.

Kjetil Hatle­brekke Memo­r­i­al Book Prize The Prize aims to recognise scholarship on non-Five Eyes intelligence cultures and systems.

The #KjetilHatlebrekke Prize is sponsored by KCSI to honour the life and work of the late Dr Kjetil Anders Ely Hatlebrekke. The Prize aims to recognise scholarship on non-Five Eyes intelligence cultures and systems. kcsi.uk/kjetil-hatle...

In Praise of Intelligence Studies

Read the latest #KCSIInsights by Sir David Omand who writes on the creation of #KCSI by exploring the evolution of #intelligence studies that have transformed from deep secrecy to an established academic discipline.

kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

KCSI Special Event Book Launch: Spying in South Asia by Paul McGarr Mon 7th Oct 18:30 - Join us for the launch of Paul McGarr's book 'Spying in South Asia,' unveiling the secret Cold War between Britain, the US, and India

We're kicking off this term's #KCSISeminar series.

Join us for Paul McGarr's (@paulmcgarr.bsky.social) book launch: 'Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, and India's Secret Cold War'.

📌Strand, KCL
🗓️07 Oct 2024, 18:30

Contact us to reserve a spot

kcsi.uk/events/kcsi-...

KCSI Insights Inaugural Post

We're excited to launch #KCSIInsights, our Centre's blog for #intelligence and international security, featuring contributions from KCSI academics, PhD researchers, and affiliated practitioners.

Read our first blog by our Editor-in-Chief, Celia Parker-Vincent.
kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

The Long Shadow of Soviet Sabotage Doctrine? - War on the Rocks Boris Nikolaevich Rodin was a known entity in the KGB. Operating as an intelligence officer in London from 1947 to 1951, he helped manage the defection of

Many 🙏 @warontherocks.bsky.social for publishing my piece on #SovietBloc #ColdWar #sabotage #doctrine, which argues that current attacks/fires/explosions on #NATO territory mirror Moscow’s CW-era sabotage doctrine in important ways. If this is indeed the case, more is yet to come.

👉 encr.pw/ZG1cJ

Sage Journals: Discover world-class research Subscription and open access journals from Sage, the world's leading independent academic publisher.

Huge congratulations to our members Huw Dylan, David Gioe, and Elena Grossfeld for their article being shortlisted for the John Peterson Best Article prize (2023).

The article is in the next post.

journals.sagepub.com/page/bpi/vid...

Lovely piece by Sunday Times data editor Tom Calver who ‘always has felt grateful to have studied the humanities at university’ and now wants to use data to articulate their value www.thetimes.co.uk/article/get-...

It's always a pleasure researching at the British Library.