iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

The article contributes to debates on state formation, the role of intelligence in IR, and sheds light on how states make “legible” domains like AI and cyber today.

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Second: improvised institutionalization – states shift to creating experimental, new organizations and nascent bureaucracies to manage intelligence collection in this new area, often nudged forward by intense geopolitical competition or war.

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

First: improvised connectedness—states tap experts already embedded in emerging epistemic communities that already exist in the new domain or geographic area. This identifies a distinctive role for epistemic communities: as assets for state intelligence collection. www.jstor.org/stable/2706951

jstor.org

Introduction: Epistemic Communities and International Policy Coordination on JSTOR

Peter M. Haas, Introduction: Epistemic Communities and International Policy Coordination, International Organization, Vol. 46, No. 1, Knowledge, Power, and International Policy Coordination (Winter, 1...

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Improvised legibility describes states’ early efforts to collect intelligence in new geographic domains and issue areas. We highlight how states engage in ad hoc, experimental efforts to tap “off-the shelf” expertise. Improvised legibility proceeds in two stages:

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

We show how Britain used archaeologists in early intelligence efforts in the Middle East. Early British state knowledge of Iraq and Palestine drew on the expertise of archaeologists like Austen Henry Layard, T.E. Lawrence, Leonard Woolley, and Gertrude Bell.

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Why archaeologists? They occupied elite networks and were local experts—fluent in languages, cultures, and customs—with skills in observation, mapping, photography, and detailed reporting. Crucially, they also had scientific cover.

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Major European powers—Britain, France, Germany, and later the United States—often relied on archaeologists abroad to gather intelligence in places where the state had sparse geographic or political knowledge.

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Our basic story: the Indiana Jones films have a grain of truth to them. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, archaeologists really did navigate ancient ruins while quietly spying for their home state.

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Adam Saxton @asaxton.bsky.social · 23/04/2026

Excited to announce the publication of my first peer reviewed academic article at EJIR! Co-authored with @carsonaust.bsky.social and available @ejir.bsky.social here: journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/... See a quick summary below!

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