New addition Magazine article: ‘Unique source’ blinded Dutch intelligence agencies to Putin’s invasion: ‘What a fuck-up’ by Ben Meindertsma, Huib Modderkolk (published 08-07-2026) https://www.volkskrant.nl/kijkverder/v/2026/russia-ukraine-intelligence-netherlands-investigation~v3114923/

volkskrant.nl

🚨🗞Over 8,500 global security and anti-financial crime professionals trust Insight Monitor to keep them up to date with news and analysis they can't find anywhere else. You should too! Subscribe here: newsletter.insightthreatintel.com

Insight Monitor | Jessica Davis, PhD | Substack

Global security, terrorism, espionage and illicit financing -- news and analysis you won't find anywhere else! Click to read Insight Monitor, a Substack publication with thousands of subscribers.

newsletter.insightthreatintel.com

If crime, statecraft, and geopolitics are your thing, join Cathy Haenlein @hamarquette.bsky.social and me in an episode of @rusi.bsky.social Global Security Briefing podcast! Link👇

RUSI@rusi.bsky.social · last mo.

In this Global Security Briefing episode Cathy Heanlein, Director of Organised Crime & Policing at RUSI, is joined by @magslong.bsky.social and @hamarquette.bsky.social to look at the blurring of boundaries between crime, statecraft and geopolitics. Listen to the episode: https://bit.ly/4wfJoGU

🚨🎙️In light of the events in Montréal this week, we recorded a special episode of Secure Line, bringing together all our analysis of the attack and the manifesto. A critical listen for anyone trying to make sense of this: Listen here: youtu.be/QTrJqC66wa8?...

S3 PODMERGENCY: Montreal Attack

YouTube video by Secure Line

youtu.be

This is not a story about criminals getting smarter, richer, or more violent, but about criminality becoming a modality of power for constrained states, sanctioned economies, political elites, professional enablers, & for actors seeking mobility, liquidity, and deniability 👇 doi.org/10.1080/0307...

Criminality as a Modality of Power in Contemporary Geopolitics

Organised crime is becoming increasingly structurally integrated within contemporary geopolitics. Magda Long argues that treating it as a marginal feature of international security rather than as a...

doi.org

New Eyes On episode out with myself, @seandnaylor.bsky.social and @zachsdorfman.bsky.social discussing our recent article about JSOC spies. Also, a nice preview of Zach's upcoming book about CIA NOCs. youtu.be/BrO44uu-WBw?...

Inside JSOC’s Most Secretive Undercover Missions

YouTube video by EYES ON GEOPOLITICS

youtu.be

Thanks for flagging my latest article From #Kingpins to #Terrorists @brianjphillips.bsky.social Designating cartels as foreign terrorist orgs projects resolve, but risks mistaking political spectacle for strategy. Symbolic toughness≠strategic effectiveness.The difference carries real consequences.

Brian J. Phillips@brianjphillips.bsky.social · 6mo ago

From kingpins to terrorists: Trump II, cartels as FTOs, and the weaponization of covert action by @magslong.bsky.social doi.org/10.1080/0959... "privileging symbolic toughness and political spectacle over sustainable strategic outcomes" indeed

@rorycormac.bsky.social and I had a fantastic time with @jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social on @theteamhouse.bsky.social - we talked #CovertAction; how and why states use it; and what we might miss if we apply the US approach too narrowly elsewhere. Watch it on #YouTube or listen on your fave #podcast app

Jack Murphy@jackmurphyrgr.bsky.social · 7mo ago

Not going to leave you hanging during the holidays. Tonight we have a @theteamhouse.bsky.social episode with @magslong.bsky.social and @rorycormac.bsky.social about how various Intel agencies approach covert action. youtu.be/j5cCGxOpR8w?...

We're wrapped for 2025 on @theteamhouse.bsky.social. Three upcoming episodes before the new year, one with @rorycormac.bsky.social and @magslong.bsky.social about covert action, another with a 5th SFG/75th vet, and another with Anthony Vinci of the DIA and NGA.

Delighted *Entangled Alliances* @cornellupress.bsky.social is sharing company with excellent works by Thomas Gidney, Eric H. Cline & @magslong.bsky.social in @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social's collection of New Books in Diplomatic History. 📚 open.spotify.com/show/0MIbXiv...

My @newbooksnetwork.bsky.social podcast with @markstout.bsky.social, @magslong.bsky.social, and @rorycormac.bsky.social is now available. Learn more about covert action here: newbooksnetwork.com/covert-action

📜 It was a great opportunity to highlight research we published at @rusi.bsky.social in '24 on #gigeconomysabotage, w/ @kloosha.bsky.social @magslong.bsky.social @patrickbury.bsky.social. 👥 It was excellent to appear alongside the expert voices of #SO15 Dom Murphy, @matthewrr.bsky.social & others.

The European Political Community could prove to be a useful format of last resort should the EU or other European multilateral institutions become blocked or neglected by a rising far right.

The European Political Community can be more than an ‘unidentified political object’

The EPC is helping to forge an awareness of shared European strategic interests. It should now set itself the clear task of redesigning Europe’s strategic security architecture.

chathamhouse.org

Just finished editing the terrorist financing news roundup coming out later this week....and there's a fun little nugget in there that has inspired me to re-share my initial look at the Wagner Group's web of companies: newsletter.insightthreatintel.com/p/wagner-gro...

Wagner Group's Web of Companies

This week, Insight Intelligence is taking a look at Wagner Group - a Russian private military corporation that functions as a proxy for the Russian state.

newsletter.insightthreatintel.com

Excited to see Covert Action: National Approaches to Unacknowledged Intervention, in the wild at #APSA2025. My contribution: Israel's Mossad and Covert Action: Immigration, Counter-Proliferation, and Assassination. Edited by @rorycormac.bsky.social @magslong.bsky.social @markstout.bsky.social

@rorycormac.bsky.social @markstout.bsky.social @dvanp.bsky.social @jgmaber.bsky.social @paulmcgarr.bsky.social @dianabolsinger.bsky.social It arrived! Super excited about our edited volume on #covertaction! And extremely grateful to our contributors and reviewers for their hard work and support!

👀 SIS/MI6 are the last of the UK's agencies to join social media in an official capacity, following on from MI5 and GCHQ. Cheeky reference to spy fiction vs reality here ⏬️ www.instagram.com/reel/DOVSo5J...

New addition Journal article: Unveiling Russian intelligence failures in the Ukraine conflict: a strategic culture perspective by Huw Dylan, Elena Grossfeld (published 22-08-2025) https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2544460

New batch of emails from Russia's disinformation campaign, which added Chancellor Merz of Germany to its list of targets, which has previously focused on Moldovan president Maia Sandu and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan.

IISS: 'The Scale of Russian Sabotage Operations Against Europe’s Critical Infrastructure' www.iiss.org/research-pap...

💥Very excited to report that @thecipherbrief.bsky.social ‬ published my article "When States Go Mob"! #OrganizedCrime networks are force multipliers and a structural scaffolding in the #grayzone reshaping the global security environment. Pse. have a look!👇 www.thecipherbrief.com/gray-zone-cr...

When States Go Mob: The Criminalization of Modern Statecraft

OPINION — In the fall of 2021, an FBI informant received a chilling offer: $300,000 to assassinate former U.S. National Security Advisor John Bolton. The would-be hitman posed as a drug cartel enforce...

thecipherbrief.com

Another writer and broadcaster just offered “Fakers” is “Monty Python meets Le Carré” … exactly what I was going for! Absolutely buzzing 😀

Rory Cormac@rorycormac.bsky.social · last yr.

Asking for pre-publication endorsements is something I find very nerve-wracking (anyone else?!?) but a top comedian, writer and broadcaster just said “Fakers” is “laugh out loud” funny! Absolutely buzzing! It’s out next spring.

NOW OPEN ACCESS: Briant, Emma L. & Wanlass, A. (2018). "A Ménage à Trois for the Digital Age: Strategic Leaks, Propaganda and Journalism," in Corneliu Bjola & James Pamment. Countering Online Propaganda and Vioent Extremism: The Dark Side of Digital Diplomacy. www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edi...

A digital ménage à trois | 4 | Strategic leaks, propaganda and journal

This chapter introduces readers to scholarly and popular debates regarding strategic leaking, propaganda and journalistic reporting. It focuses on political,

taylorfrancis.com

Excited to support MA in Applied Security & Strategy (MStrat) @exeter.ac.uk Strategy and Security Institute geared twrds professionals in defence, diplomacy, intelligence & policy to sharpen their strategic thinking & decision-making skills. Sep. 2025 apps open - 🔗 www.exeter.ac.uk/study/postgr...

Applied Security and Strategy MA | Postgraduate Taught | University of Exeter

exeter.ac.uk

Come do a PhD at @forsvarshogskolan.bsky.social. You could be supervised by some of my fantastic colleagues while working in a vibrant, pluralistic & highly engaged research environment. These positions are fully salaried & come with a research budget of 30k SEK a year fhs.varbi.com/en/what:job/...

PhD students in War Studies

The Department of War Studies conducts research and education in the subject of War Studies. The department consists of about 160 employees and has about 1000 students and participants in commissioned

fhs.varbi.com

‼️ Hidden Bear: The GRU hackers of Russia's most notorious kill squad As The Insider discovered, Unit 29155, the Kremlin’s most notorious black ops squad, also fielded a team of hackers that tried to destabilize Ukraine before Russia’s full-scale invasion.

Hidden Bear: The GRU hackers of Russia’s most notorious kill squad

Russian GRU Unit 29155 is best known for its long list of murder and sabotage ops, which include the Salisbury poisonings in England, arms depot explosions in Czechia, and an attempted coup d’etat in ...

theins.press

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