SpyCast

Summary

James Crossland (Twitter) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the origins of modern terrorism. James is an expert on terrorism, intelligence, and propaganda.

What You’ll LearnIntelligence

-The origins of modern terrorism

-19th century spymasters

-Covert action and assassinations

-Intelligence as a weapon

Reflections

-Philosophy and ideology’s effect on history

-The power of fear

And much, much more ...Quotes of the Week

“These waves of repression that feed into discontent and create more radical strains of discontent, that is a process that's really observable during this period. The reason why I think this is the first real age of terrorism is because you have all this stuff coming together: Communications that you need to promote terrorist activities to gain the attention you need, societal discontent, dangerous ideas ... and it's all moving around together as part of the same process.” – James Crossland.

Resources SURFACE SKIM*Spotlight Resource*

-The Rise of Devils: Fear and the Origins of Modern Terrorism, J. Crossland (Manchester University Press, 2023)

*SpyCasts*

-Venice’s Secret Service with Ioanna Iordanou (2023)

-St. Ermin’s Hotel, London – The History of a Legendary Spy Site, with Stephen Duffy (2023)

-Espionage and the Two Queens with Kent Tiernan (2023)

-The Lion and the Fox – Civil War Spy vs. Spy with Alexander Rose (2023)

*Beginner Resources*

-Terrorism, J. P. Jenkins, Encyclopaedia Brittanica (2023) [Short article / definition]

-What Were The Most Important Events of the 19th Century?, C. Seaver, History Defined (2022) [Short article]

-Marxism in Under 5 Minutes, Theory in 5, YouTube (2020) [3 min. video]

DEEPER DIVEBooks

-Sofia Perovskaya, Terrorist Princess: The Plot to Kill Tsar Alexander II and the Woman Who Led It, R. R. Riggs (Global Harmony Press Inc., 2018)

-The Pursuit of Power: Europe 1815-1914, R. J. Evans (Penguin Books, 2017)

-Blood and Rage: A Cultural History of Terrorism, M. Burleigh (Harper, 2009)

Primary Sources

-The assassination, who is responsible? (1901)

-New York Times “Empress of Austria Slain” Article (1898)

-New York Times “War On Terrorism” Article (1881)

-La vérité sur Orsini (1872) [The Truth about Orsini]

-Manifesto of the Paris Commune (1871)

-The Revolutionary Catechism (1869)

-On the Fenian Prisoners in Manchester (1867)

-Procès de Orsini (1858) [The Trial of Orsini]

*Wildcard Resource*

-You may have already read his classic play Crime and Punishment, but have you read Dostoevsky’s The Idiot (1869)?

This novel is known as Dostoevsky’s most personal work, a story that clearly shows the threads of his own life experiences during 19th century Russia. The novel explores many of the same questions of philosophy and politics explored in this episode of SpyCast.

Summary

Jefferson Morley and Mark Zaid join Andrew in a debate over the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. Mark and Jeff are longtime friends and colleagues with very different viewpoints of what truly happened on November 22nd, 1963.

What You’ll LearnIntelligence

• The lasting questions surrounding the Kennedy assassination
• Lee Harvey Oswald’s intelligence connections
• The Warren Commission and the JFK Assassination Records
• The strangest theories Mark and Jeff have heard, and the most plausible explanations of who killed President Kennedy

Reflections

• Public distrust and the search for truth
• Reactions and responses to tragedy

And much, much more ...Quotes of the Week

”That's why I think they probably have something to hide. Because it doesn't make sense otherwise ... If they had access to that kind of straightforward story, we would get that.” – Jefferson Morley.

Resources SURFACE SKIM*SpyCasts*

• The Skinny on American Intelligence & the Law with D.C. “Super Lawyer” Mark Zaid (2024)
• Rise of Devils: The Origins of Modern Terrorism with James Crossland (2024)
• Havana Syndrome – A Panel featuring Nicky Woolf, Marc Polymeropoulos, and Mark Zaid (2023)
• The Past 75 Years with Historian of the CIA Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (2022)

*Beginner Resources*

• Lee Harvey Oswald, Britannica (2024) [Short biography]
• JFK Files: What we're learning from newly released Kennedy assassination records, CBS News, YouTube (2022) [6 min. video]
• Kennedy Assassination Timeline, The Sixth Floor Museum (n.d.) [Timeline of events]

DEEPER DIVEBooks

• The Devil's Chessboard: Allen Dulles, the CIA, and the Rise of America's Secret Government, D. Talbot (Harper Perennial, 2016)
• JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters, J. W. Douglass (Touchstone, 2010)
• Our Man in Mexico: Winston Scott and the Hidden History of the CIA, J. Morley (University Press of Kansas, 2008)

Primary Sources

• President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection Act (1992)
• Select Committee on Assassinations Report (1978)
• Warren Commission Report (1964)
• LBJ Address to Congress (1963)
• Interrogation of Lee Harvey Oswald (1963)
• JFK Autopsy Report (1963)
• The President John F. Kennedy Assassination Records Collection

*Wildcard Resource*

• Test how you would do in Kennedy’s shoes by playing 13 Days: The Cuban Missile Crisis, 1962 – A two-player board game that tests your quick-thinking strategy and conflict resolution skills.

Summary

Vappala Balachandran (Wikipedia) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss his career and the ancient roots of espionage in India. Bala formerly served as Special Secretary for India’s Cabinet Secretariat.

What You’ll LearnIntelligence

• India’s Research and Analysis Wing
• The Tamil Tigers’ threat to Indian national security
• Intelligence considerations within India-Pakistan relations
• Lessons in intelligence from Ancient India

Reflections

• Intelligence, the 2nd oldest profession
• Transitioning from leader to student

And much, much more ...Quotes of the Week

“There was a lot of pressure. There was a lot of pressure, especially, for example: Certain incidents happening – What would be the repercussions in India? Now, anything that happens in Pakistan, it will have some repercussions in India. And, same thing in Afghanistan, and then all the neighboring countries, we are to watch them.” – Vappala Balachandran.

Resources SURFACE SKIM*SpyCasts*

• Irish Garda Intelligence Chief with Assistant Commissioner Michael McElgunn (2023)
• Venice’s Secret Service with Ioanna Iordanou (2023)
• Indian Intelligence & Cyber, A Conversation with Sameer Patil, ORF Mumbai (2023)
• Intelligence & the World’s Largest Democracy with Former Indian Intelligence Director Vikram Sood (2021)

*Beginner Resources*

• The Entire History of India in Under 10 Minutes, Made in History, YouTube (2022) [10 min. Video]
• RAW: A History of India’s Covert Operations, Y. Yadav, New Indian Express (2020) [Short article]
• Timeline: India-Pakistan Relations, A. Hashim, Al Jazeera (2019) [Historical timeline]

DEEPER DIVEPrimary Sources

• Agreement on a ceasefire between Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (2022)
• Pradhan Inquiry Commission Report, 26/11 Mumbai Terror Attacks (2009)
• Lessons from the Mumbai Terrorist Attacks, US Senate Hearing (2009)
• Kautilya’s Arthashastra (1915 translation)
• Thiruvalluvar’s Tirukkuṟaḷ (1886 translation)
• The Police Act (1861)

Summary

Shane Harris (Twitter, LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the role of intelligence in the Ukraine conflict one year after it began. Shane reports on intelligence for the Washington Post and is the author of two books.

What You’ll Learn Intelligence

-Where we are with the war in Ukraine

-The role intelligence agencies are playing in the conflict

-The leadership of Zelensky and Putin

-What it’s like to report on spies

-Dealing with sources inside the intelligence agencies

Reflections

-The tenacity of the Ukrainian people and army

-History as both repetitive and unpredictable

Episode Notes

This week on SpyCast, Shane Harris of The Washington Post joins Andrew to reflect on the previous year and discuss the role of intelligence within the war in Ukraine. He has been writing about these issues for more than two decades, including a period with the Wall Street Journal. He is the author of two books, The Watchers, on the rise of surveillance in the US, and @War, on the rise of the military-internet complex. He was part of a team that won the Pulitzer Prize for Public Service in 2021.

Quote of the Week

“At the outset, [I] believed that what we were looking at was probably a pretty swift Russian victory ... They would come in, they would decapitate the central government in Kiev in the first 72 hours, and it would be bloody, and it would be violent, but that Russia would prevail because they were deemed to have the superior military in terms of technology experience numbers. Turns out, all those things were spectacularly wrong.” – Shane Harris.

Resources *SpyCasts*

-How Artificial Intelligence is Changing the Spy Game with Mike Susong (2023)

-Dealing with Russia A Conversation with Counterintelligence Legend Jim Olson (2022)

-Becoming a Russian Intelligence Officer with Janosh Neumann (2022)

-The Information Battlespace: Foreign Denial and Deception with Bill Parquette (2022)

*Beginner Resources*

-Has Putin's war failed and what does Russia want?, P. Kirby, BBC (2023)

-A Brief History of Modern Ukraine, BBC (2022) [YouTube video]

-Russia-Ukraine Relations in 60 Seconds, CBC News (2022)

Summary

Uri Bar-Joseph (LinkedIn) joins Andrew (Twitter; LinkedIn) to discuss the intelligence failure of the Yom Kippur War. Uri is an author and professor emeritus at Haifa University.

What You’ll LearnIntelligence

• How Israel failed to predict the Yom Kippur War
• Egyptian spy Ashraf Marwan’s role in the War
• How Israeli intelligence evolved post-War
• Israeli leadership’s accountability for the failure

Reflections

• Learning and adapting from mistakes
• Catastrophe and national trauma

And much, much more ...Resources SURFACE SKIM*SpyCasts*

• Israeli Military Intelligence with IDF Brig. General (Res.) Yossi Kuperwasser (2023)
• POW’s, Vietnam and Intelligence with Pritzker Curator James Brundage (2022)
• The CIA and the 9/11 Commission Report – A Conversation with Alexis Albion (2021)
• Pearl Harbor at 75: An Interview with Steve Twomey (2016)

*Beginner Resources*

• Yom Kippur, Encyclopedia Brittanica (2023) [Short Article]
• Intelligence Failure: What, When, Why and How, A. Clark, Grey Dynamics (2023) [Article]
• Yom Kippur War, Pritzker Military Museum and Library, YouTube (2022) [3 min. video]

DEEPER DIVEBooks

• Eighteen Days in October: The Yom Kippur War and How It Created the Modern Middle East, U. Kaufman (St. Martin Press, 2023)
• THE ANGEL: The Egyptian Spy Who Saved Israel, U. Bar-Joseph (Harper Publishing, 2017)
• The Watchmen Fell Asleep: The Surprise of Yom Kippur and Its Sources, U. Bar-Joseph (State University of New York Press, 2005)
• The Yom Kippur War: The Epic Encounter That Transformed the Middle East, A. Rabinovich (Shocken, 2004)

Primary Sources

• Agranat Commission of Inquiry Interim Report, Center for Israeli Education (1974)
• Israel-Egypt Separation of Forces Agreement, Center for Israeli Education (1974)
• Intelligence Memorandum: The Israeli Primary Elections (1973)
• United Nations Resolution 338 (1973)
• Response to U.S. Appeal for a Ceasefire (1973)
• Transcript of Secret Talks between Egyptian National Security Adviser Hafez Ismail and US National Security Adviser Henry Kissinger, Center for Israeli Education, Center for Israeli Education (1973)
• Commemoration of IDF Casualties and Congratulations on Victory in Battle (1967)