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Alex Blackwell

@alexblackwell.bsky.social
841 followers 56 following 2K posts

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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 34m
The next spy novel by David Ignatius. a.co/d/00lCQeOZ
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 50m
“This article proposes a four-stage UTS framework (collection, fusion, analytics, operationalization) and develops propositions on its asymmetric effects.” doi.org/10.1080/0268...
doi.org
Ubiquitous technical surveillance: a conceptual framework for understanding impacts on human intelligence and counterintelligence
Ubiquitous technical surveillance (UTS), driven by IoT proliferation, behavioral-surveillance monetization, advanced analytics, and expanding identification and geolocation tools, means most human ...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 54m
“The findings show that passports provide more than cover: they allow operatives to appropriate the issuing state’s sovereign credibility, mobility privileges, and institutional trust while shifting the costs of exposure onto issuing governments and innocent holders.” doi.org/10.1080/0885...
doi.org
The Passport Paradox: Borrowed Sovereignty and the Limits of Bilateral Deterrence in Mossad-Attributed Operations, 1973–2010
Trusted foreign passports enable clandestine mobility, yet repeated exposure and protest have not ended their misuse in covert operations. This study asks why non-recurrence assurances and bilatera...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 56m
“The Stasi files do not provide objective accounts, but their availability enables victims, scholars, journalists, and citizens to examine how authoritarian intelligence classified ordinary life and converted suspicion into purported knowledge.” doi.org/10.1080/0885...
doi.org
Intelligence Democratization Beyond Transition: The Institutionalization of the Stasi Archives in Germany
The opening of the archives of East Germany’s Ministry for State Security after German reunification created one of the world’s most extensive systems of public access to the records of a former se...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 59m
A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0885...
doi.org
From Island to Archipelago: The Dutch Defense Intelligence Network in a Changing Threat Environment
This case study explores the expansion and professionalization of the Dutch Ministry of Defense’s intelligence network in light of the growing threat of war in Europe. The interaction between diffe...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
“Adversaries are already employing ‘harvest now, decrypt later’ strategies, anticipating future quantum decryption capabilities.” www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/P...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
The next book by @tobyharnden.bsky.social looks to be a must-read. www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-39...
simonandschuster.com
The 39
This startling, intimate portrait of a group of previously unknown Americans offers unprecedented insight into the clandestine world. In a narrativ...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Archaeo-cryptography is fascinating. doi.org/10.1080/0161...
doi.org
The grammar of the Rohonc Codex
This paper is a follow-up to the authors’ 2018 introductory study which presented an overview of their proposed decipherment of the Rohonc Codex. It situates the present contribution within the bro...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
A new open access article. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Trust and mistrust in European and transatlantic intelligence cooperation as cause and consequence: a framework for analysis
The literature frequently mentions (mis-)trust as a key factor in explaining whether and what kind of international intelligence cooperation is possible. However, dominant rationalist accounts tend...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
“The Codebreaker Challenge is available to anyone holding an email address from a recognized U.S. school or university.” www.nsa.gov/Press-Room/P...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 27/09/2026
The Pickle Factory: A Tall Tale of the CIA www.amazon.com/dp/B0FXFK4FKS/
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“The U.S. intelligence community’s inspector general is investigating the circumstances that led to the arrest of a former CIA officer found with $40 million worth of gold bars at his home.” www.nbcnews.com/politics/nat...
nbcnews.com
U.S. intelligence inspector general investigating how a CIA officer deceived the top spy agency
The watchdog is reviewing the CIA’s vetting of David Rush, who had $40 million in gold bars stored at his home, and the scope of his alleged wrongdoings, sources say.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
“After joining the CIA in 1972, [Joe] Wippl served in Bonn while it was the capital of West Germany. He still travels back to Germany regularly and spent a month there this summer.” inews.co.uk/news/i-ran-c...
inews.co.uk
I ran the CIA in Berlin. The Russians are about to make a big mistake
Ex-spy Joseph Wippl says the rise of the far right in Germany may open an intelligence-sharing 'can of worms' – but he thinks Putin's hybrid war will backfire
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
Unfortunately, “Brady” didn’t “see” the lurking VSP trooper who gave him a speeding ticket on the GW Parkway. www.dailymail.com/sciencetech/...
dailymail.com
CIA's psychic spy saw an ancient city on Mars before its apocalypse
The CIA's most gifted remote viewer once saw a thriving city on the Martian surface. Now, more people have seen the horrific end of the Red Planet and are sharing the details.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
The unclassified version of the latest issue of CIA’s Studies in Intelligence (Vol.70, No.3, September 2026) is available (PDF) at www.cia.gov/resources/cs...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
“One of the most senior CIA officials, whom [Kozinoğlu] knew very well, told him: ‘Do not go to Turkey; they will arrest you. You can go to the US or another country if you wish.’” www.birgun.net/haber/cia-of...
birgun.net
CIA official said ‘Don’t go’
Developments continue in the case of Kâşif Kozinoğlu. Following his detailed reports on the sect’s activities in Asia and at its schools, Kozinoğlu became a target and was implicated in the Ergenekon ...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
“Former CIA director David Petraeus and two other former agency officials were on a separate train that was evacuated minutes before the explosion, officials said.” www.washingtonpost.com/world/2026/0...
washingtonpost.com
String of daring Russian plots is testing Washington’s restraint
A strike on a train that imperiled former European leaders and CIA officers is among a spate of attacks that risked a dangerous escalation with the West, experts say.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
Travis Kelce Named Victim in Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme www.tmz.com/2026/09/16/t...
tmz.com
Travis Kelce Named Victim in Multimillion-Dollar Ponzi Scheme
Travis Kelce knows a thing or two about taking hits ... but prosecutors say the Chiefs superstar got walloped off the field too -- in a massive Ponzi scheme.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 16/09/2026
The Reluctant…Runway Model? www.complex.com/style/a/back...
complex.com
CIA Whistleblower John Kiriakou Makes His Runway Debut at Elena Velez's NYFW Show
The whistlerblower, who went viral on TikTok earlier this...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
A pre-Oktoberfest evening stroll on the Sporerstraße in Munich. The south tower of the Frauenkirche looms in the background; the north tower houses a BND radio relay (true story).
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 15/09/2026
Bytes and Bullets: Global Rivalries, Big Tech, and the New Shape of Modern Warfare by @stevefeldstein.bsky.social www.amazon.com/Bytes-Bullet...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“[Chen Yixin, the head of China’s Ministry of State Security] also described the danger that foreign intelligence agencies might use A.I. for ‘large-scale espionage’ and attacks on China’s critical infrastructure.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/14/w...
nytimes.com
China’s Top Spy Chief Warns A.I. Is a Threat to Party Rule
Even as Beijing urges the United States not to hype the dangers of A.I., its own spy chief is framing the technology as a threat to the Communist Party’s security.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
“Earlier she led the agency's Weapons and Counterproliferation Mission Center…” www.prnewswire.com/news-release...
prnewswire.com
Maura Burns, Former Chief Operating Officer of the CIA, Joins the SAGINT Board of Advisors
/PRNewswire/ -- SAGINT®, Inc. today announced that Maura Burns, former Chief Operating Officer of the Central Intelligence Agency, has joined its board of...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“It has taken nearly 1,000 years to bring it back to Britain, where until next July the tapestry is at the British Museum in an exhibition of unparalleled diplomatic significance.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/11/a...
nytimes.com
Unstitching the 1,000-Year-Old Story of the Bayeux Tapestry
The medieval masterpiece has traveled from France to England for a once-in-a-lifetime show. It is not what our critic Jason Farago expected.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“If the strike was in fact targeting senior current and former American, British and European officials, it would represent a significant Russian escalation.” www.nytimes.com/2026/09/13/w...
nytimes.com
Russian Strikes on Ukraine Hits Near David Petraeus, ex-C.I.A. Chief
David Petraeus was at a rail station when a drone hit. Another train, with former Prime Minister Boris Johnson of Britain and other dignitaries, had just left, Ukrainian officials said.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“…five new organizations inside the agency, in artificial intelligence, China, cybersecurity, combat support or warfighting, and global intelligence. Each will be led by a newly elevated ‘mission director’…” NSA gets the Brennan treatment. www.washingtonpost.com/national-sec...
washingtonpost.com
National Security Agency launches historic restructuring
Gen. Joshua M. Rudd is retooling the massive spy agency to focus on priorities including AI, China and cybersecurity.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
The prize is dinner with Trump? He’ll spend two hours talking about himself. How is that any different from a regular Cabinet meeting? thedailybeast.com/humiliating-...
thedailybeast.com
Humiliating Leak Reveals Bizarre Contest Trump Uses on His Goons
Another game from the president of potstirring.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“It is understood the individual worked at the US embassy in Vauxhall, south west London, and though not a diplomat, he enjoyed the umbrella of diplomatic protection.” www.bbc.com/news/article...
bbc.com
US embassy child abuse images suspect flown from UK before police interview
The individual worked at the US embassy in Vauxhall, south London, had diplomatic protection, despite not being a diplomat.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
When in Vienna, a stop at Café Sacher, one of the most iconic Viennese coffeehouse, for Kaffee mit Schlag and a slice of Sacher-Torte is mandatory.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
“Until 2016, Tkachev headed the Sixth Service of the FSB’s Internal Security Directorate. This service is called the “Sechin special forces”: it was created at the initiative of Igor Sechin during the attack on Yukos and Mikhail Khodorkovsky.” istories.media/en/news/2025...
istories.media
Ivan Tkachev, Head of FSB Directorate K, Appointed Chief of Military Counterintelligence
In wartime, this position is considered doomed
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
Graymail? Maybe the secrets Rush knows are too vital to risk compromising in open court. www.tmz.com/2026/09/11/c...
tmz.com
CIA Officer Arrested in Gold Bars Case Working Towards Plea Deal
The CIA officer who allegedly stashed 300 gold bars in his house may be able to keep the case out of the public eye ... because federal prosecutors and his lawyers say they're working on a plea d...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 12/09/2026
OS, when the asset claims the drop was empty.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
CIA has no greater cover asset than Hollywood. As long as our real world adversaries (and allies) keep looking for the Hollywood version of a CIA officer, we should be fine. www.buzzfeed.com/patrickbaker...
buzzfeed.com
Do You Have What It Takes To Be A CIA Operative?
If you can cut it, there's a team out there that needs you. Get tickets now for The Fix with Zachary Levi and Liam Neeson! In theaters now.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
“In August of 2001, I had just finished up my third summer internship stint at what (I would tell my friends with pride) was the coolest job a college kid could ever hope to have: the Central Intelligence Agency…” www.nationalreview.com/corner/child...
nationalreview.com
Childhood’s End | National Review
I didn’t just feel fear or anger on 9/11. I also had to reckon with something else: my own sense of failure and shame.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 11/09/2026
I love the smell of napalm in the end zone. It smells like…victory. apnews.com/article/miam...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0885...
doi.org
Inside NATO Intelligence: Practitioners’ Perspectives on the Intelligence Cycle
The debate on the intelligence cycle is mostly academic and theoretical. Although some exceptions exist, empirical data is largely lacking from the debate. This article aims to contribute an eviden...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
A new article by @sandbaggerone.bsky.social. www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (MI6) and the Butler Report: Fallout, Reform and Legacy
The Butler report had significant implications for Britain’s Secret Intelligence Service (commonly known as MI6). Though much has been said about the report’s findings and the follow-up work of the...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“A CIA director must be measured against the office’s demands: independence, intellectual honesty, and willingness to tell a president what he does not want to hear.” - @johnsipher.bsky.social and @juliacurlee.bsky.social. www.thebulwark.com/p/the-cia-di...
thebulwark.com
The CIA Director Is a Failure
John Ratcliffe has mired the agency in politics—and possible illegality.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“[Her husband] Michael Scheuer – who has become a blogger, podcaster and Fox News regular – has taken to espousing conspiracy theories and called on President Donald Trump to impose martial law after he lost the 2020 election…” Ah, Crazy Mike. www.dailymail.com/news/article...
dailymail.com
New life of CIA's 'Torture Queen' who inspired Zero Dark Thirty movie
The CIA's notorious 'Queen of Torture' spent much of her career hunting down national security threats and watching on as screaming Al Qaeda suspects were waterboarded.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
“…Ellis used [Operation Absolute Resolve] to support the agency’s decision to elevate the Center for Cyber Intelligence to a full mission center.” When in doubt, create a mission center. cyberscoop.com/cia-cyber-op...
cyberscoop.com
CIA’s Michael Ellis says cyber intelligence is changing how the agency operates
CIA Deputy Director Michael Ellis revealed at the Billington Cybersecurity Conference that elevated cyber intelligence enabled Special Operations forces to locate and apprehend Nicolás Maduro during O...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0161...
doi.org
The DescryptTool: agentic LLM-based workbench for decipherment of historical ciphers
The DescryptTool is an agentic research workbench developed within the DESCRYPT project to support the cryptanalysis of historical ciphers. Its contribution is not a new cipher-solving algorithm al...
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Elizabeth Holmes should always play Elizabeth Holmes in Elizabeth Holmes movies. youtu.be/SdqFSGPvRwE?...
youtu.be
You Can See Everything - Official Teaser (2026) Nathan Fielder, Elizabeth Holmes
YouTube video by IGN
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 06/09/2026
“Threat actors are exploiting weak cyber hygiene by using AI to automate each stage of the intrusion lifecycle, according to the [NSA].” www.executivegov.com/articles/nsa...
executivegov.com
NSA Issues Cyber Hygiene Guidance for AI-Enhanced Threats
NSA cites unpatched systems, default configurations and weak monitoring as cybersecurity vulnerabilities.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Either “No Tab Pete” or “Unpaid Tab Pete” is acceptable. Currently, “Dumb McNamara” is his operative nickname. thedailybeast.com/army-heroes-...
thedailybeast.com
Army Heroes’ Humiliating Nickname for Pete Hegseth Is Leaked
Astonishing details of Delta Force’s naked mockery of Hegseth have leaked to the Daily Beast.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
Burglars are often the best home security consultants. arstechnica.com/security/202...
arstechnica.com
Confused about which VPN is right, US senator asks the NSA for guidance
Open source, commercial, single-hop, multi-hop, mixnet? The array of options is dizzying.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
“Despite my belief in Stoic philosophy, I find it hard to accept that occasionally God is on the side of the truly wicked.” – Duane “Dewey” Clarridge (“A Spy For All Seasons”)
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
Beyond Honor: A Novel “A paramilitary operative confronting his grief on a path of retribution. A CIA analyst hunting a conspiracy that leads to the Oval Office.” www.amazon.com/dp/1668229781/
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
“…a farcical 1970s spy yarn starring John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell as a pair of CIA loose cannons with loud mouths and even louder shirts.” www.bbc.com/culture/arti...
bbc.com
Oscar contender Wild Horse Nine is a fierce attack on the CIA - and may divide US viewers
The new film by Irish director Martin McDonagh stars John Malkovich as a 1970s agent wrestling with his conscience and in danger of spilling secrets. It's a spy yarn with real bite.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
If one didn’t know any better, one might think the Trump Administration doesn’t know what the hell it’s doing. www.politico.com/news/magazin...
politico.com
The Iranian Regime’s Dynamics Are Fooling Trump
The government in Tehran has plenty of debates over tactics, but it’s not fracturing — yet.
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Even SNL couldn’t make this shit up for a skit.
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