Intelligence
Sir Michael Howard, an official historian of WW2 intelligence, wrote in 1985: ‘So far as official government policy is concerned, the British security and intelligence services do not exist. Enemy agents are found under gooseberry bushes and intelligence is brought by the storks.’
Even the existence of SIS (MI6) was not officially admitted until 1992. Intelligence is still missing from much modern historiography. Even when present, the interpretation often suffers from Historical Attention-Span Deficit Disorder (HASDD). Edward Snowden’s sensational revelations of UKUSA signals intelligence SIGINT operations had a far smaller impact on 21st-century British government policy and public opinion than mid-19th-century revelations of the official interception of Mazzini’s correspondence.
Twitter: @CamIntelligence
The Seminar will convene this year through a mixture of online and hybrid events.
In order to attend those events available online, you must be subscribed to our mailing list. The Zoom link will be distributed in advance of the session. On any technical queries or to add or remove addresses from the mailing list, please email J.C. Ellis (jce45@cam.ac.uk).
Except where specifically indicated, seminars are not recorded.
Lent 2026
5-30pm GMT, Friday 23rd January (Online)
Sergei Cristo, ‘Oleg Gordievsky’s Library: Stalin and Cold War, Intelligence Perspectives, and Fighting for Democracy’
Cristo will show how the rule of Stalin and the Cold War shaped much of the history of intelligence reflected in Gordievsky’s library. This is a history written by a diverse crowd of authors: practitioners, historians, journalists, from mainly Western, but also the Soviet perspective, or sometimes even a mixture of the two. But what does this collection reveal about Gordievsky’s approach to intelligence history? How did he view the competing narratives, obvious and less obvious deception, and the problem of truth in intelligence writing?
Sergei Cristo was a BBC journalist in 1990s, an asset management specialist for over 20 years and Conservative Party fundraiser turned whistle-blower against the Russian interference in British politics. A recent Masters graduate in Global Security and Strategy from the Brussels School of Governance, he is now a doctorate researcher in security and intelligence studies at the University of Buckingham, looking at security implications of Western investments in oppressive regimes. He had also been a friend of Oleg Gordievsky CMG DLitt (Buckingham) since the late 1990s and a frequent visitor to his house in Godalming, Surrey, until a few months before Oleg passed away in March last year at the age of 86. Recently, Cristo was instrumental in transferring about 60 books and journals on intelligence from Gordievsky’s personal library to the University of Buckingham, to provide a source of learning and inspiration to many future generations of students in security and intelligence studies.
Joint Event with University of Glasgow War Studies Seminar:
5-15 pm GMT, THURSDAY 29th January,
Humanities Research Hub, 1 University Gardens, Room 102, Glasgow (Hybrid Event—Note Change of Day and Time)
Prof Huw Bennett, ‘Opting to Change? British Defence Policy and the End of the Cold War, 1986-1991’
"Options for Change" was British defence policy's response to the end of the Cold War, a review conducted earlier than those of most allies, in 1990-91. Like other defence reviews, Options has been portrayed as a tragic tale of brutal cuts imposed on the armed forces by the ruthless Treasury. Using newly available archival sources, this paper presents a more multi-dimensional interpretation of a review that would shape Britain's military throughout the 1990s and into the twenty-first century. The paper makes an anti-declinist argument, challenging the myth of Treasury power and Defence victimhood. Retrenchment in defence spending was a logical response to the tremendous changes sweeping eastern Europe in the early 1990s. Defence planning was based on intelligence assessments about the likely future threat from Russia and elsewhere. The government aimed to reduce spending at a time when key allies were planning to do the same; Britain sought to spend a fair share within NATO. The government also wished to retain the ability to influence allies by maintaining powerful armed forces. The Ministry of Defence deftly negotiated limited cuts to the armed forces and protected its bottom line, of sustaining balanced forces able to fight wars at the operational level. With support from the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Defence successfully deployed numerous negotiating tactics to resist the Treasury's intention to impose much deeper cuts. This paper evaluates the interplay between economic pressures, perceptions of enemies and allies in the international system, and service politics in determining the outcome of the Options for Change defence review.
Huw Bennett is Professor of International Relations at Cardiff University, where he teaches strategy and intelligence. He previously taught at Aberystwyth University and for King's College London at the Joint Services Command and Staff College. His research focuses on British defence and strategy since 1945. He is the author of Fighting the Mau Mau: The British Army and Counter-Insurgency in Kenya (2013) and Uncivil War: The British Army and the Troubles, 1966-75 (2023), both published by Cambridge University Press.
5-30pm GMT, Friday 6th February (Online)
Dr Kabir Adamu, ‘Nigerian Security Dynamics: Performance, Governance, and 2027 Implications
This talk examines the structure and functioning of the Nigerian national security apparatus, situating it within the broader framework of security sector governance under the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It explores the key socio-economic, political (both domestic and international), and environmental factors shaping Nigeria’s contemporary security environment. The talk provides a brief assessment of security performance in 2025, comparing current trends with those observed in 2024 and preceding years. It then offers a high-level analysis of recent security dynamics, including the activities of non-state armed groups, the emergence of peace pacts between some communities and these groups, and the mechanisms through which such actors acquire weapons and finance their operations. The talk concludes by considering the implications of the upcoming 2027 elections, with particular attention to how political competition and mobilisation may contribute to heightened insecurity.
Dr. Kabir Adamu is a leading expert on security sector governance, intelligence, and strategic risk management in Nigeria and the wider Sahel. He is the Managing Director of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, an Abuja-based firm specialising in national security sector governance, security intelligence, and risk and crisis management in complex operating environments. Holding a doctorate in Strategic Security Risk Management, he has advised multinational organisations and public institutions on security challenges across the public, private, and development sectors. Dr. Adamu previously served as Head of Security and Intelligence at the Office of the President of the Senate during Nigeria’s 9th Assembly and currently contributes to the ministerial performance review process at the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation under Executive Order 13. He is a Fellow of several professional security institutes and a member of ASIS International. A recognised thought leader, he regularly teaches and briefs at institutions including the National Defence College, the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, and the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, and is a frequent commentator on national and international media.
5-30pm GMT, Friday 13th February, (McCrum Lecture Theatre, Corpus Christi College)
Dr Michael Reynolds, ‘The Techniques and Targets of Intelligence Gathering – Past, Present and Future’
This talk, structured in three chapters, draws on the speaker’s nearly three decades of service in the Secret Intelligence Service to examine the practice of intelligence from the Cold War to the present. It begins with an exploration of the ‘classical’ methods of intelligence gathering he experienced firsthand, situating human intelligence (HUMINT) within its broader historical and institutional context. The second section traces how these practices evolved at the end of the Cold War and in the early post–Berlin Wall period. The final chapter turns to intelligence work in the contemporary international system, focusing in particular on the post–National Security Strategy era and the pressures reshaping intelligence priorities. The talk reflects on the changing character of the UK–US intelligence relationship and asks what a post-Brexit United Kingdom truly requires from its intelligence services. Throughout, the speaker offers candid and reflective insights drawn from more than fifty years of engagement with the world of intelligence, with all views expressed in a personal capacity.
Dr Michael Reynolds is a former senior British intelligence officer with nearly three decades of experience in intelligence and counter-terrorism across Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. After studying Modern and Mediaeval Languages at King’s College, Cambridge, following a year at the Sorbonne, he joined the Secret Intelligence Service, where he worked on a wide range of intelligence targets during the Cold War and its aftermath. In 1986, he founded and led the Counter-Terrorism Section in SIS and later became an Assistant Director in the Security Service, heading a joint unit focused on terrorism and hard Arab targets. He spent the final phase of his government career in Berlin, serving through the fall of the Berlin Wall and the early post-Cold War transition. Following early retirement from government in 1995, he co-founded Hakluyt & Company, which has since become a global leader in commercial intelligence and advisory services. Alongside his professional career in intelligence, he has pursued advanced academic work in music, earning an honours degree in Opera Studies and a PhD on the creation of Der Rosenkavalier.
5-30pm GMT, Friday 27th February (Online)
Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall, ‘Her Secret Service: The Forgotten Women of British Intelligence’
Since the inception of the Secret Service Bureau in 1909, women have worked at the very heart of Britain's secret services. Yet, their contributions have been all but written out of history. Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall explores how she rescued these silenced voices to produce a groundbreaking account of women's contributions to the history of the intelligence services.
Dr Claire Hubbard-Hall is a historian, writer, and broadcaster specialising in the history of secret intelligence. She worked for 14 years at Lincoln Bishop University (Head of Military History and Postgraduate Study) before leaving in December 2023 to pursue writing full-time. She is an honorary Associate Professor of Intelligence History, a trustee of the Medmenham Collection, and a former founding Board member of the Women's Intelligence Network.
Joint Event with University of Glasgow War Studies Seminar:
5-15 pm GMT, THURSDAY 5th MARCH
Humanities Research Hub, 1 University Gardens, Room 102, Glasgow (Hybrid Event—Note Change of Day and Time)
Prof Peter Jackson, ‘The First World War and the Birth of Modern Intelligence’
This talk explores how the Great War brought about a revolution in intelligence practices. This revolution was driven by two pre-war technological innovations. The first was the advent of radio as a principal form of communication. The second was the evolution of manned flight. Together these developments ensured that the information war would take place in the air and at sea as well as on (and beneath) the ground. The end result was an explosion of intelligence of all kinds. To manage this new state of affairs the intelligence agencies of all belligerent powers expanded dramatically. Large numbers of civilians - especially women - were for the first time and employed in burgeoning intelligence communities that used the latest information processing technologies. Intelligence had become an industrial enterprise in what was by 1917 a truly global conflict.
Prof Peter Jackson is Chair of Global Security at the University of Glasgow. He received his PhD in History from the University of Cambridge, and previously held academic appointments at Yale, Aberystwyth, and Strathclyde as well as visiting appointments at Sciences Po and the Sorbonne. He has served as editor of Intelligence and National Security, the world's leading journal on intelligence and security issues, and is a Fellow of both the Royal Society of Edinburgh and the Royal Historical Society. He co-authored L'essor du renseignement moderne. Une histoire mondiale de l'espionnage (Nouveau Monde Editions, 2025), and is the author of Beyond the Balance of Power: France and the Politics of National Security in the Era of the First World War (Cambridge, 2013).
5-30 GMT, Friday 13th March (Online)
Dr Joseph Hatfield, ‘There Is No Such Thing As Open Source Intelligence’
In this talk Dr Hatfield argues that ‘open source intelligence (OSINT)’ is a fundamentally incoherent concept that should be abandoned. He does so in two steps. First, by challenging the underlying criteria used to demarcate it as a separate ‘INT’ among its more traditional peers. Second, through an historical critique that argues that ‘OSINT’ as a conceptual category served a transitory stage that has long passed. That is, it helped intelligence practitioners and scholars appreciate the influx of valuable unclassified information made newly available by the World Wide Web in the 1990s, but the advantages gained from this notion have now declined and the concept is now a liability. By discarding the term altogether, and recategorizing openly derived sources of information back into their traditional homes, significant conceptual and practical benefits can be attained.
Dr Joseph M. Hatfield is an Assistant Professor in the Cyber Science department at the United States Naval Academy. He recently retired from active duty as a naval intelligence officer, having served in a variety of overseas operational assignments before coming to the Naval Academy. He earned his Ph.D. in the department of Politics and International Studies at the University of Cambridge and publishes regularly on cyber- and intelligence-related topics.
5-30pm GMT, Friday 20th March (McCrum Lecture Theatre, Corpus Christi College)
Dr Peter Grace, ‘Uncertain Futures. The Crisis at CIA from 1947-1950 and the Arrival of the Intelligence Intellectuals’
From the very beginning, CIA was beset with problems. As the Cold War developed, criticism of the Agency mounted and accusations of intelligence failure lowered its position in the national security hierarchy. When the Korean War broke out, the Director of Central Intelligence was not invited to Truman's high level pow wow. In this talk, based on his new book, The Intelligence Intellectuals: Social Scientists and the Making of the CIA (Georgetown University Press), Peter Grace discusses both the problems of dealing with uncertainty in strategic intelligence, and the then uncertain future of CIA. A new director was brought in, and he in turn ordered professors to come to Washington and reform the intelligence product.
Dr Peter Grace is a lecturer in New Zealand Foreign Policy at the University of Otago, where he serves as Co-Director of the Otago National Security School. His academic research focuses on intelligence, legitimacy, and foreign policy. His recently completed doctoral thesis examines the “intelligence intellectuals,” tracing how social scientists helped legitimise the early Central Intelligence Agency in the United States. Alongside his teaching and research, he is a committee member of the annual Otago Foreign Policy School. Prior to entering academia, Dr Grace worked for local and international advertising agencies as an award-winning creative director and ran his own marketing and communications firm for fifteen years. He lives in Dunedin with his wife, Beth, in a converted nineteenth-century synagogue.