Daniela Richterova
@drichterova.bsky.social
Associate Prof/SL in Intelligence Studies @warstudies @kcl.ac.uk www.KCSI.uk Interests: #ColdWar #intelligence #covertops, #terrorism, USSR/Russia, CEE, #MiddleEast Author of 📙 #WatchingTheJackals 👉 https://press.georgetown.edu/Book/Watching-the-Jackals
☀️🎓 Thrilled to be celebrating the MA Intelligence & International Security graduation on such a glorious day. 🎉 Huge congratulations to the Class of 2026! What a brilliant cohort and genuinely fun to teach. 🙌🏻 We cannot wait to see where you all go next and the impact you will make along the way.
📢 #WatchingTheJackals is 1 year old. The reception has gone far beyond what I had expected (and Central Europeans aren't known for low expectations). Here’s a snapshot of highlights from the past 12 months. A collective 🙏 to all who quietly made this happen. You know who you are. 1/4 ENDORSEMENTS
📖 Dr Daniela Richterova (@drichterova.bsky.social) recommends "Fakers: A Top-Secret Tale of Phantoms and Forgeries on the Disinformation Front Line" by @rorycormac.bsky.social (2026).
📕 🕵♀️ Very happily stunned that Chris Costa, Executive Director of International Spy Museum has put #WatchingTheJackals at the top of his 2025 "must read" list & called it "gripping". 👉 Check out the International Spy Museum's socials for Chris' reflections on his top 5 reads.
🎧 Grateful to contribute to the 📻 prgm "CURRENTLY: Playing Spies", drawing on what I’ve learned while observing recent UK trials linked to RU sabotage & espionage. Thanks 🙏 @gordoncorera.bsky.social & #BBC Radio 4 production team for putting this excellent programme together! 👉 shorturl.at/icEjs
Currently - Playing Spies - BBC Sounds
Gordon Corera investigates Russia's new front line of amateur espionage.
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📕 🎄 📘 I am grateful to Walter Landgraf for including #WatchingTheJackals on this year’s @warontherocks.bsky.social Holiday Reading List. It means a great deal to have the story recognised alongside such an impressive list of titles 👉 shorturl.at/fc6l1 🙏 to the GUP team & editors for their support
The 2025 War on the Rocks Holiday Reading List
It wouldn’t be the holidays without our annual War on the Rocks book roundup. Check off your gift list or pick a book to enjoy by the fire. Happy reading.
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🔍 Spotlight on “Strategic Vandalism” See our new piece with @paulineblistene.bsky.social on the recent “Red Hands” trial in Paris, which showed how Moscow instrumentalises vandalism as a calculated instrument of influence. 📝 See full article & more about "strategic vandalism" at #KCSIInsights.
King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence (KCSI)@kcsi.uk · 9mo ago🚨New article in our KCSI Insights blog by our core team member Dr @paulineblistene.bsky.social and KCSI Co-Director Dr @drichterova.bsky.social on “Strategic Vandalism: Decoding the French ‘Red Hands’ Trial.” 🔗 Link: kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...
📢 Check out the latest publications by Team @kcsi.uk 👇
King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence (KCSI)@kcsi.uk · 9mo ago📄 From the impact of growing digitalisation on intelligence to Czechoslovakia’s complex relationship with Middle Eastern revolutionaries, our KCSI members have been busy with sharing their expert insights in several publications this month. 🔗 All publications can be found here: kcsi.uk/publications
📄 'From Prague With a Shove' 🗣️ Michael Young in an interview with @drichterova.bsky.social on lessons from her latest book, "Watching the Jackals" 📌 Diwan, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace's Middle East Program @carnegieendowment.org 🔗 Link: carnegieendowment.org/middle-east/...
🐧 Grateful and excited about what lies ahead. 🙌 Thankful to everyone involved! www.thebookseller.com/rights/vikin...
Viking acquires Daniela Richterova’s ‘extraordinary’ untold story of a spy
Viking has acquired Our Man in Prague by Daniela Richterova, “the story of one of MI6’s greatest, and least known, triumphs behind the Iron Curtain”.
thebookseller.com
Fantastic speaking to Michael Young of Malcolm H. Kerr @carnegiemec.bsky.social about #WatchingTheJackals & lessons from Cold War CT. 👉 shorturl.at/v1tr1
From Prague With a Shove
In an interview, Daniela Richterova speaks about her book on Czechoslovakia’s Cold War ties to Palestinian groups and others.
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1/4 🎓🕵️♀️ Exciting times for #KCLMAIIS - the MA in Intelligence & International Security, @warstudieskcl.bsky.social, @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social, co-run with @paulmcgarr.bsky.social, @paulineblistene.bsky.social, David Easter, Huw Dylan & Celia Parker-Vincent.
1/3 📕 #CovertAction: National Approaches to Unacknowledged Intervention is now out! I am delighted to have co-authored the chapter “Czechoslovakia: Covert Measures in Peace and War.”
Do you have an older 💻 or 📱 you no longer use? Back in 2021, Sarah G.Solecki, Ilke D.Hustings & I organised several small-scale initiatives to help Afghan families settle in the UK. We also donated 2 older laptops to Screen Share UK – an org dedicated to empowering refugees through access to tech.
Screen Share UK
The leading digital inclusion charity for refugees in the UK.
screen-share.co.uk
🙌 Delighted to have taken part in the @camsecurity.bsky.social ISI Summer School of '25. 🚨 Enjoyed lecturing & discussing the history & contemporary relevance of #sabotage. More coming soon! 🎓 Wishing the cohort all the best in their pursuit of understanding or shaping #internationalsecurity.
Many 🙏 to Dr Rosie Johnston & @recetvienna.bsky.social in Vienna for hosting me on the #TransformativePodcast: shorturl.at/X6Do9. Do check out Rosie's fantastic research on the #ColdWar politics of #audiojournalism & her team's project on global politics of #Czechoslovak #weapons: shorturl.at/NStm2
🚨 What happens to a generation of journalists raised under Putin? 🎧 Join us for the latest @warstudieskcl.bsky.social podcast episode, where veteran journalists @andreisoldatov.bsky.social & I. Borogan discuss Our Dear Friends in Moscow - part memoir in exile, part anatomy of Putin’s secret state 👇
War Studies @warstudieskcl.bsky.social · last yr.🎙️New Podcast! @andreisoldatov.bsky.social & Irina Borogan join @drichterova.bsky.social to discuss their book Our Dear Friends in Moscow. They explore how fear, betrayal & moral choices shaped a generation of Russians. 🎧Listen now: ☁️ bit.ly/3GibvBf 🟢 bit.ly/4lNgNnf 🍎 bit.ly/4kt6Av2
Many 🙌 @nytimes.com for including #WatchingTheJackals in your Father’s Day roundup — in my favourite category, no less: "For the dad who’s still talking about The Americans finale." If you're shopping for the espionage aficionado in your life (or just yourself), see full list: shorturl.at/nov9V
Our Favorite Books for a Last-Minute Father’s Day Gift
Looking for a Father’s Day gift? Try one of these recent releases.
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📺 A new #BBCFour #Storyville documentary on #CarlosTheJackal now streaming on iPlayer. A sharp recap for those interested in the history & mythology of Cold War-era international terrorism. Many 🙏 to the creators for bringing insights from 📚 #WatchingTheJackals to life on screen. shorturl.at/JFUFh
BBC Four - Storyville, The Jackal Speaks
A rare portrait of Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, better known as the infamous Carlos the Jackal.
bbc.co.uk
Who were the #ColdWarJackals? Why were they #watched? What can today’s professionals learn from these uneasy covert alliances? 🎙️ Tune in as Thea Gioe, former USG intel practitioner & #KCSI Visiting Fellow, and I explore these questions in the latest #WarStudiesPODCAST episode. 👉 shorturl.at/ipOUl
Watching the Jackals: Cold War Terror, Espionage, and Prague’s Secret Role
Podcast Episode · War Studies · 21/05/2025 · 48m
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Many thanks to @shaunwalker7.bsky.social & @christogrozev.bsky.social for a fantastic evening at @theguardian.com Live. 🙌 @kcsi.uk / @camsecurity.bsky.social / @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social / @warstudieskcl.bsky.social
💼 Had a fantastic time teaching @charlesuni.cuni.cz in Prague on CEE's ties w/ #ColdWarJackals. The students excelled in the final simulation exercise on intel liaison — sharp analysis & fantastic visuals that brought their presentations to life. Big 🙏 to Irena Kalhousova for making this happen!
📢 Join in person/online for @theguardian.com Live Events where I'll be speaking alongside christogrozev.bsky.social & @shaunwalker7.bsky.social about the UK's largest #spytrial and what it tells us about contemporary #espionage & #activemeasures. 22nd May / 19:30-21:00 / Register: shorturl.at/yY8cf
Russia’s spies: Uncovering Russia’s secret espionage programmes
Exploding weapons factories, assassination plots and fake news: Vladimir Putin’s hybrid war campaign against the West has stepped up several notches since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
theguardian.com
