Perspective Intelligence

This blog was designed to bring all the various writings I have produced (and sometimes published) over the past five years into one place.  The work is diverse but it has as its heart the idea that the world of Security and Intelligence is constantly shifting and therefore demands a creative fluid response.

I first began to think critically about the role of Security and Intelligence with Professor Peter Hennessy back as an undergraduate student and then later as a PhD candidate working with him as he began to uncover Britain’s Secret State.  Academically, I chose the complex issue of internal security against the backdrop of the Cold-War as my starting point.  It is one of the great challenges that a free democratic state faces and a challenge that shifted from Communism to Islamism within the time I was academically active and then professional active.  Sadly, I didn’t get to complete my PhD as events in the world took over and my day job with Special Branch took overwhelming precedence. However, I recently acquired a copy of the British government’s War Book from the National Archive, which details Britain’s plans in the event of a Nuclear War.  It examines the state’s role in identifying and containing domestic extremists.  Although the War-Book is over thirty years old – its seems to still resonate strongly in an era of non-state actors with no national allegiance.

Recently, my thinking has revolved around virtual spaces of differing kinds.  A fundamental paradigm shift has occurred in the practice and application of Security and Intelligence.  This provides both serious vulnerability and fascinating opportunities.