“30 seconds to live”: A glimpse inside the secretive world of the killer-drones

To many, modern warfare, and particularly drone warfare, can seem like a video game. Successive waves of war movies and video games have managed to replicate the images of the modern battlefield. Images, however, are just that: visual interpretations of events. They don’t show the impact, physical or mental, that the participants experience. Dr Peter […]

From the dark corners of the CIA library: Official ‘Guidance to UFO Photographers’

For decades, the U.S. government has been accused of not only secretly investigating the existence of extra-terrestrials on and around our planet, but of conducting a generation-spanning cover up aimed at keeping the public at large in the dark about such visitors. For many Americans, these accusations are little more than a plotline in some […]

The ISIS kid that became America’s No. 3 most wanted terrorist

Junaid Hussain, a British citizen of Palestinian origin living in Birmingham, had one talent: Hacking. And when that special gift was coupled with radical ideology, it produced one of the most dangerous terrorists to emerge during the Global War on Terror. Because of his technological genius and strategic mind, Hussain quickly rose through the ranks […]

On This Day, President Reagan Gives CIA Authority To Create the Contras

Anti-Sandinista Nicaraguan Rebels Would Become a Thorny Issue President Ronald Reagan did little to hide his disdain for the Marxist Nicaraguan leaders who seized power after the dictator Somoza was ousted. The Somoza family ruled the country with an iron hand for 46 years. Then the Sandinista National Liberation Front, Spanish Frente Sandinista de Liberación […]

Former KGB officer narrowly loses Interpol leadership

A former KGB agent narrowly lost the chance to lead Interpol. Alexander Prokopchuk, who currently serves as an Interpol vice president and a General in the Russian interior ministry, was slated to win the election for the new Interpol chief. The seat had been empty since the abduction and arrest of the previous chief, Meng […]

Op-Ed: Breaking down the Trump-McRaven catfight

I’ve been watching the recent comments flying back and forth between President Trump and Admiral McRaven — as well as heckling from the media cheap seats — over remarks that McRaven made about Trump being the biggest threat to democracy in his lifetime. The President then fired back about McRaven not finding Bin Laden sooner, […]

How the CIA recruits from elite schools: Part III

One of the perks of studying at an elite U.S. university is that top companies, organisations, and agencies congregate in search of talent. What follows is my experience attending a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruiting brief and simulation session at the Johns Hopkins University. Names have been altered to preserve personal security. You can read […]

Do you have a LinkedIn account? You may be a target of Chinese spies

Chinese intelligence agents using fake LinkedIn accounts have managed to ensnare thousands of senior French business executives and civil servants. According to a joint report by the DGSE and DGSI, the French versions of the CIA and FBI, over 4,000 French financial and government ‘high-value targets’ have been pursued by Chinese intelligence. The report states that […]

How the CIA recruits from elite schools: Part II

One of the perks of studying at an elite U.S. university is that top companies, organisations, and agencies congregate in search of talent. What follows is my experience attending a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruiting brief and simulation session at the Johns Hopkins University. Names have been altered to preserve personal security. You can read […]

Meet the Night Wolves, Russia’s paramilitary biker gang

Dolna Krupa, Slovakia — Paramilitary and influence operations can take many forms. They could be a team of Delta Force operators conducting Operational Preparation of the Battlefield (OPB) in an unstable region; they could be a CIA front company creating a pro-U.S. narrative in a far-away country; but they could also be a Russian biker-gang […]

How the CIA recruits from elite schools: Part I

One of the perks of studying at an elite U.S. university is that top companies, organisations, and agencies congregate in search of talent. What follows is my experience attending a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) recruiting brief and simulation session at Johns Hopkins University. Names have been altered to preserve personal security. It all began with […]