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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

The Society for Intelligence History @socintelhist.bsky.social · 29d

@matthefler.bsky.social's latest is an absolute must read:

Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Sep 10

Josephine Baker spied for France 🇫🇷 against the Axis- but what if her most secret operation was against an ally? 🇬🇧

This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...

Josephine Baker's secret war

The singer-turned-spy Josephine Baker played a key, and hitherto unacknowledged, role during the Second World War in the secret contest between Britain and France in the Middle East.

engelsbergideas.com

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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

Engelsberg Ideas @engelsbergideas.bsky.social · 29d

From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.

The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

The politics of a military parade

From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.

engelsbergideas.com

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Sep 10

Josephine Baker spied for France 🇫🇷 against the Axis- but what if her most secret operation was against an ally? 🇬🇧

This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...

Josephine Baker's secret war

The singer-turned-spy Josephine Baker played a key, and hitherto unacknowledged, role during the Second World War in the secret contest between Britain and France in the Middle East.

engelsbergideas.com

7 12

Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Sep 9

Loads to take in here at IAFIE, 2025!

The Society for Intelligence History @socintelhist.bsky.social · Jun 7

Are you an Intelligence Studies authors and editors interested in discussing your work? Why not apply to join the author's panel during the joint IAFIE conference in Aranjuez-Madrid, Spain, September 9-11, 2025.

Please contact Dr. William Spracher, at [email protected] for more information.

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Sep 9

Looking forward to this here IAFIE in Aranjuez, Spain!

Tony Ingesson @tonyingesson.bsky.social · Jun 4

The organizers of the 2025 annual IAFIE conference asked me if I could submit a short video presentation of my contribution. So I decided to have some fun and make a video in the style of a dramatic documentary trailer:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQK3...

IAFIE presention, Tony Ingesson

YouTube video by Tony Ingesson - Teaching & Research Videos

www.youtube.com

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Aug 25

“In a July 20 directive signed by Gabbard, reported by CBS, the U.S. intelligence community was given orders to classify all analysis and information related to the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations as "NOFORN," or no foreign dissemination”

www.politico.eu/article/tuls...

Trump’s intel chief freezes out Five Eyes allies on Ukraine

The intelligence alliance of the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as the U.S. is one of the closest in the world.

www.politico.eu

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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

Engelsberg Ideas @engelsbergideas.bsky.social · Aug 22

Josephine Baker’s secret war | @matthefler.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...

Josephine Baker's secret war

The singer-turned-spy Josephine Baker played a key, and hitherto unacknowledged, role during the Second World War in the secret contest between Britain and France in the Middle East.

engelsbergideas.com

5 6

Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Jul 31

I wrote recently in @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about the tension between political narratives and events as supported by intelligence.

Here’s more on that: former intelligence chiefs defending history (and their actions) against efforts to rewrite the past. 🇺🇸

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/o...

Opinion | Brennan and Clapper: Let’s Set the Record Straight on Russia and 2016

www.nytimes.com

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Jul 13

Summer reading 📚

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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

Engelsberg Ideas @engelsbergideas.bsky.social · Jul 10

An attack on US intelligence | @matthefler.bsky.social

engelsbergideas.com/notebook/an-...

An attack on US intelligence

The president’s willingness to manipulate assessments of Iran's nuclear programme suggests that he prioritises his public narrative over the effectiveness of America's intelligence services.

engelsbergideas.com

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Jun 30

Glad speaking with @svenskadagbladet1.bsky.social on US intelligence on Iran and how to consider the public disputes around assessments 🇺🇸

Though hard to guauge from outside, recent events remind us to beware politicization of intelligence or secret services 🌍

English 👇

www.svd.se/a/kwoBJX/exp...

Expert: Underrättelser om Iran har blivit politik

De motstridiga uppgifterna om bombningen av Iran tyder enligt spioneriexperten Matthew Hefler på att underrättelse i USA håller på att bli politik.

www.svd.se

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Jun 23

Thanks to Sweden’s national TV network @svtnyheter.bsky.social for getting my reaction to 🇸🇪's recent intelligence review by Carl Bildt 🌍

I said that a new foreign intelligence agency will take time and must reflect Sweden's security needs and "intelligence culture" 🛠️ 🇸🇪

www.svt.se/nyheter/inri...

Experten om ett ”svenskt CIA”: Verkar vilja gå i den riktningen

”Kan bli betydande förändringar” • Ny svensk underrättelsemyndighet föreslås

www.svt.se

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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

Centre for Statecraft & National Security @csns-uk.bsky.social · Jun 16

In his recent ‪@theobserveruk.bsky.social piece on @edwardluce.bsky.social's 'Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Cold War Prophet', John Bew says "Brzezinski cuts a talented but frustrated figure"

Meet the President’s main man | The Observer

An elegant portrait of Jimmy Carter’s hawkish security adviser reveals him to be a pivotal figure in cold war policy

observer.co.uk

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Jun 17

Podcast alert! 🚨 📻 I had the pleasure of chatting about my collection Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict on "Yukiko and Patrik meet"👇

This book brings together experts on issues of intelligence and security and was produced by the Ax:son Johnson Institute 🌍

open.spotify.com/episode/6VsQ...

7. Yukiko och Patrik möter Matthew Hefler

Stolpe Stories · Episode

open.spotify.com

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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

Centre for Statecraft & National Security @csns-uk.bsky.social · May 22

📢 Exciting news! The Centre for Grand Strategy and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation are merging to form a new hub within @warstudieskcl.bsky.social: the Centre for Statecraft & National Security @csns-uk.bsky.social

➡️ You can find more information here: csns.uk

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · May 15

Today’s reading 📖

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · May 8

Back in London for the London Defence Conference 🇬🇧

This year the exceptional and timely programme is focusing on the theme of Alliances 🌍

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Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler

William D. James @wdjames.bsky.social · May 1

Invoking Munich & Neville Chamberlain to talk about Ukraine is fashionable but often misleading. In JSS, I review two recent books on appeasement - and examine how hype about new tech (air power) distorted British strategy in the 1930s. 50 free copies here 👇
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/43ETS...

‘Neville, you must remember you don’t know anything about foreign affairs’: Assurance, air power, and alternative histories to appeasement

This review essay explores British grand strategy during the interwar period, drawing on David French’s Deterrence, Coercion, and Appeasement and G. C. Peden’s Churchill, Chamberlain, and Appeaseme...

www.tandfonline.com

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Apr 17

Thanks Gill!

Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Apr 17

Thanks John!

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Apr 17

Thanks Dan!

Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Apr 17

Thanks Tony!

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Apr 17

Delighted to announce that I have taken on the role of Project Lead of the new AJI Intelligence and Security Programme 🚨

This academic project examines the role of intelligence and secret services in statecraft, diplomacy, and international security. 🌍

Learn more:
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...

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Dr Matthew Hefler @matthefler.bsky.social · Apr 15

Recently caught up with @thejeffdouglas.bsky.social @cbcradiocanada.bsky.social to discuss some of the latest news around intelligence, security and diplomacy 🌎

Main point was the role of intelligence services in protecting elections and cooperating with allies 🤝
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...

How Trump's Transactionalism Could Change Decades Old Security Relationships

Podcast Episode · Mainstreet Halifax · 2025-03-25 · 25m

podcasts.apple.com

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