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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand

@ckhillebrand.bsky.social
1.7K followers 946 following 582 posts

👋 I mainly share posts about contemporary intelligence 🕵🏼‍♀️🕵️‍♂️, state secrecy 🤫, politics 🌍, and cats 🐈‍⬛ 🐈.

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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 1h
How to measure the economic impact of any intelligence activity is a highly complex task, and there are no comparative standards so far. But I guess a figure like £2.5bn indicates the scale of the threat, at least. giftarticle.ft.com/giftarticle/...
giftarticle.ft.com
Russian hostile activity costs UK up to £2.5bn a year, report warns
Labour MP Graeme Downie’s research highlights lack of consistent framework for measuring economic impact of Moscow-backed hybrid warfare
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Reposted by Dr. Claudia Hillebrand
Le Cueilleur @lecueilleur.bsky.social · 2h
The spy case involving former #BND President August Hanning and his former chief of staff could develop into one of the biggest scandals involving Germany’s intelligence services since the Cold War 🧵 1/9
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Matthew Redhead @matthewrr.bsky.social · 12h
What a story.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 22h
More details emerging about the arrest of former BND director Hanning. 🔥 He’s been accused of paying his former assistant for handing over classified information from the intelligence agency, including materials provided by foreign services.
sueddeutsche.de
Affäre beim BND: Ex-Geheimdienstchef Hanning wegen Spionageverdacht festgenommen
Der frühere Präsident des Bundesnachrichtendienstes August Hanning ist festgenommen worden. Es bahnt sich einer der großen Spionagefälle der Bundesrepublik an.
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Andy Williams @llantwit.bsky.social · 23h
Very much looking forward to welcoming Mic to Cardiff Uni's School of Journalism, Media and Culture next Wednesday. Book your (free) tickets and come and hear one of the UK's most incisive, engaging, funny, and uncompromising media critics. And buy his book! 👇😎
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PSA Parliaments @psa-parliaments.bsky.social · 06/10/2026
Registration has now opened for our annual conference in Manchester on Monday the 2nd of November! This event is free for PhD students and members of the PSA Early Career Network. Please use this link to register: www.psa.ac.uk/event/parlia...
psa.ac.uk
PSA Parliaments Annual Conference - Political Studies Association
The PSA Parliaments Annual Conference will take place at the University of Manchester on Monday 2 November 2026. Paper presentations will feature research on a wide range of parliaments. This is an in...
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 23h
Former BND director arrested for treason. - “Den Ermittlungen zufolge soll sich Hanning nach dem Ende seiner Beamtenkarriere über Jahre illegal geheime BND-Informationen verschafft und weitergegeben haben.”
spiegel.de
(S+) August Hanning: Ex-BND-Chef verhaftet – Verdacht auf Landesverräterische Ausspähung
Nach Informationen von SPIEGEL und SPIEGEL TV haben Fahnder den ehemaligen BND-Präsidenten August Hanning festgenommen. Der frühere Spitzenbeamte soll jahrelang privat Geheiminformationen von seinem a...
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Surveillance Studies Network @survstudiesnet.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
📢 CFP: SSN Small Research Grants 2026–2027 The SSN is accepting applications for its Small Research Grants, offering awards of up to £1,500 to support surveillance studies research by early-career scholars working in economically under-resourced regions. 📅 Deadline: December 1, 2026
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Filip Kovacevic @chekistmonitor.bsky.social · 05/10/2026
If you are interested in the searchable documentary record of Soviet #spy operations & personalities in the United States, I highly recommend the Friday Archive. 43 collections/ 1,130 files/ 147,000 pages. The link: fridayarchive.org
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Sameer Ashar @sameer-ashar.bsky.social · 04/10/2026
This is my nephew, please forward to your networks, esp any University of Maryland students.
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Ulrike Franke @rikefranke.eu · 02/10/2026
German army gets new drone regiment with 600 soldiers www.spiegel.de/politik/pist...
spiegel.de
Pistorius lässt Drohnenregiment aufstellen
600 Soldaten und die Fähigkeit zum »elektromagnetischen Kampf«: Verteidigungsminister Pistorius hat den Aufbau des ersten Drohnenregiments der Bundeswehr angekündigt. Geplant sind nach SPIEGEL-Informa...
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 02/10/2026
Oh boy. #counterintelligence
sueddeutsche.de
BND-Vizepräsident: Handynummer und Privatadresse seit Jahren im Netz
Sensible Daten des BND-Vize kursieren seit Jahren im Internet. Recherchen von SZ und WDR zeigen: Solche Pannen gibt es auch anderswo in Europa.
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Huw Bennett @bennetthuw.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
PhD funding opportunities are now open with the Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences, including in Politics/International Relations: wgsss.ac.uk/student-led-...
wgsss.ac.uk
Student-led General Competition – Welsh Graduate School for the Social Sciences
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C-REX @crexuio.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
CALL FOR PAPERS: Nordic Conference on Violent Extremism, 13-14 May 2027, University of Helsinki. Paper abstracts and panel suggestions: 9 October 2026. www.helsinki.fi/en/conferenc...
helsinki.fi
Nordic Conference on Violent Extremism | University of Helsinki
13–14 May 2027, Helsinki, Finland
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 30/09/2026
Tackling manpower shortage creates counterintelligence headache
theguardian.com
Inside the Ukrainian military unit training fighters from China
Despite the risks, a number of soldiers from the country seen as Russia’s biggest backer have found their way to Ukraine
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Audrey Gagnon @audreygagnon.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Do you research online extremism at a university in Australia, NZ, UK, US, Canada or Ireland? Consider taking this survey which compare ethics review boards' and researcher perception and understanding of the risk of online extremism research. For more info: soton.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_...
soton.eu.qualtrics.com
Qualtrics Survey | Qualtrics Experience Management
The most powerful, simple and trusted way to gather experience data. Start your journey to experience management and try a free account today.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Cyberattack on Munich’s LMU affects 600,000 former and current students, exposing personal information and, in some cases, financial data and health insurance details.
sueddeutsche.de
Hackerangriff auf LMU München: 600 000 aktuelle und ehemalige Studierende betroffen
Zwei Wochen nach der Cyberattacke steht fest, wie viele Betroffene es gibt. Die Daten, die abgerufen wurden, reichen bis zu 50 Jahre zurück.
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The Guardian @theguardian.com · 29/09/2026
Trial of live facial recognition in London stations ends with a false positive and no arrests
theguardian.com
Trial of live facial recognition in London stations ends with a false positive and no arrests
Freedom of information request finds six-month trial cost £320,000, used almost 100 police hours and led to just one – incorrect – alert A six-month trial of live facial recognition (LFR) technology in London’s railway stations that cost more than £320,000 and almost 100 hours of police officers’ time ended in one false match against a watchlist of suspects and no arrests. More than half a million faces were scanned between February and July this year in some of the capital’s busiest transport hubs during the British Transport Police (BTP) trial of the surveillance technology, which aimed to help catch offenders and people breaching court orders. Continue reading...
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
Ukrainian intelligence services about to share evidence of “highly coordinated military reconnaissance loop between Russia and Iran.”
kyivpost.com
Kyiv Intelligence Exposes Russia-Iran Satellite Link Targeting US Forces
Kyiv says Russian satellites tracked US and Gulf military sites before and after Iranian strikes, deepening concerns over Moscow-Tehran intelligence ties.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 29/09/2026
“Russia is boiling western democracies like a frog — turning on the heat step by step, and testing our responses.”
giftarticle.ft.com
Russia behind arson attack on defence company, says Estonia
Estonian foreign minister Margus Tsahkna says Moscow is ‘boiling western democracies like a frog’
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
Seoul accuses Ukraine of violating secrecy pact on North Korean soldiers
giftarticle.ft.com
Seoul accuses Ukraine of violating secrecy pact on North Korean soldiers
South Korea demands apology after Volodymyr Zelenskyy discloses prisoner transfer
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John Stott @jpsastro.bsky.social · 24/09/2026
Had a UKRI funded grant proposal rejected at the "AI triage stage". "This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review." 🧪 #academicsky
I am writing to let you know that, unfortunately, your application was not successful.

Review process

As part of the initial triage of the 179 proposals submitted to this call, each was assessed using an AI-based review. Every proposal was read independently by several different AI models against the same seven criteria used to shape this call (including cyber security relevance, research quality and novelty, importance of the problem addressed, feasibility of the project plan, likely outputs and impact, value for money, and responsible research practice), with each model asked to give a score and a written justification with supporting quotations from the text. To guard against any one model's idiosyncrasies, we also ran a second, independent process in which different AI models debated the merits and weaknesses of each proposal before reaching a judgement, again against the same criteria. Scores from both processes were combined to produce an overall ranking. 

This AI-based triage was used only to identify approximately 50% of the strongest proposals to take forward to full human review.  Projects selected for funding were drawn from those that progressed to the full human review stage. We recognise that AI-assisted assessment is a new and evolving part of the review process, and we are continuing to evaluate how well it aligns with the judgements of human reviewers on this call. We will soon produce a document detailing our method, so that others can build upon it and improve it.

Feedback on your application

Your application was not selected to progress beyond the AI triage stage.  To provide transparency on the outcome of this assessment, we are sharing below the scores (out of 5) from each of the two AI review processes described above, together with the mean score across the two processes.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 25/09/2026
“What Trump Jr. knew about Kremlev’s history is still unknown. When reporters pressed his father, the president suggested that his son “didn’t do a background check.” #counterintelligence
theatlantic.com
Don Jr.’s Wedding Trap
His luxurious, Russian-funded wedding celebration was a counterintelligence nightmare.
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Henry Foy @henryjfoy.ft.com · 23/09/2026
So it's official. EU sanctions on Russia are no longer only for the benefit of Ukraine's existential fight against Moscow's invasion - they are now currency for EU capitals to trade for prisoners. Welcome to the Brussels bazaar.
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European International Studies Association (EISA) @europeanisa.bsky.social · 23/09/2026
📣 We're pleased to share that the call for section chairs for #EISAPEC27 is now open! 💡 2027's conference theme is... Time is of the Essence? The Temporal Fabric of the Practice and Study of International Relations 🗓️ Deadline: 9 December 2026 🔗 See all details here: bit.ly/4rsegCT
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Heike Klüver @heikekluever.bsky.social · 22/09/2026
📣 We're hiring! Looking for a PhD position? Join our team in Berlin! Work with @heikekluever.bsky.social and @markuskollberg.bsky.social in #STATEWORK at Humboldt University and join our @dynamics.bsky.social PhD programme Great people, great project, great city! 🗓️ Deadline: 13 October 2026
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Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
“The kind of 'hallucination' that the tool used by the analyst in this case conjured has not been an isolated incident across the intelligence community since these tools began proliferating across government, according to one of the sources.” edition.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
edition.cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Anne Petterson @annepetterson.bsky.social · 21/09/2026
Kom je bij ons werken? We zoeken een universitair docent Politieke Geschiedenis (0,8 fte, uitzicht op vaste aanstelling). Solliciteren kan t/m 21 oktober: www.ru.nl/werken-bij/v...
ru.nl
Universitair docent Politieke Geschiedenis | Radboud Universiteit
Als Universitair docent Politieke Geschiedenis werken bij Faculteit der Letteren? Bekijk hier de vacature!
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 20/09/2026
Will the US join the European states who have become more outspoken about Russia’s aggressive activities on their soil?
theguardian.com
‘The rules have changed’: has Russia begun to order assassinations on US soil?
Exiled dissidents and an unsealed indictment suggest Kremlin may have abandoned longstanding taboo on attacks on its rival’s territory
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The cat and the chicken. What happened last night? 😂 Happy #caturday.
Black cat with toy chicken
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 19/09/2026
The rush to embed AI in all aspects of the intelligence process carries enormous risks. Example 1:
cnn.com
Exclusive: US military had close call after using AI for false intelligence report, sources say | CNN Politics
The episode shows the risks of using this new, relatively poorly understood technology in the middle of the Iran war
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Max Kennerly @maxkennerly.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
Lot of issues here but one part that sticks out in light of the almost-attacked-a-Chinese-ship story today: people with very important jobs where lives are at stake have bought the hype and outsourced their whole brains to AI. We're going to see more and more of this. www.cnn.com/2026/09/18/p...
In the past year, the Defense Department has rapidly made Maven a cornerstone of the US military apparatus. Several former senior US military officials now work for Palantir, including some with high-level security clearances in Centcom’s Tampa headquarters. Their role is to keep the software functioning inside secure military environments. Some Centcom personnel expected Maven to flag stale information or inconsistencies in the underlying intelligence assembled for potential targets, the officials said. It’s not clear why they had such expectations.
The intelligence report, circulated across the US military this spring in the midst of the war with Iran, immediately set off alarm bells: A Chinese ship in the Middle East was transporting components of a nuclear weapons program.

The US military swung into action with plans to intercept the vessel, according to four sources familiar with the episode. According to two of the sources, armed members of the US military were preparing to board the ship. Military planes were in the air, one of those sources and another source familiar with the incident said.

It was only just before the planned operation that officials dug deeper into the report put together by a special operations command analyst and found it had been generated with the help of artificial intelligence (AI) — and that a chatbot the analyst had used inaccurately identified the material the ship was carrying. CNN was not able to learn what the misidentified cargo was.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
It’s a very good, highly unnerving documentary.
theguardian.com
England ’Til I Die review – a chilling portrait of a town turning on its neighbours
Film-maker Jamie Roberts follows a Sussex man’s journey into the far right. If it wasn’t so horrific, parts could feel like they’d been written by Chris Morris
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
#surveillance
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 18/09/2026
“Max can screenshot users’ devices – and the contents of its mini-apps – without their knowledge. It can access all the information stored in these mini-apps, their messages and payments. It can impersonate its users without them knowing. It can even inject code into mini-apps”
theguardian.com
Revealed: how Russia uses mobile ‘super-app’ Max to spy on its citizens
Research shows tens of millions of people are being forced to use platform that amounts to ‘backdoor’ on their device
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Laura J. Shepherd @drljshepherd.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
I'm not at all sure BlueSky functions in the same way as the old space (in the good times) but I'll give this a try anyway... Folks who are thinking about attending BISA 2027: anyone keen to collaborate on a panel or roundtable (or some other kind of event) on neurodiversity in academia?
static.klipy.com
Academic Cat Wearing Glasses
Alt: White floofy cat wearing glasses
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Intelligence and National Security @intnatsecjournal.bsky.social · 04/08/2026
** Call for Papers: Special Issue on Psychology and Intelligence** Guest Editors: Nicole K. Drumhiller and Thomas Preston (Washington State University) Intelligence and National Security invites submissions for a special issue on Psychology and Intelligence.
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Fionnuala NÍ Aoláin KC (Hons) @niaolainf.bsky.social · 14/09/2026
This is simply true, the remedy for arbitrary detention is release. Women and children in Al Roj camp have waited far too long.
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Le Cueilleur @lecueilleur.bsky.social · 13/09/2026
A very rare glimpse inside an active #BND (Federal Intelligence Service) facility in Germany. The Gablingen field station near Augsburg, Bavaria. In the stairwell and adjoining areas of the evaluation building, there is a small museum 1/5 🧵
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 10/09/2026
“Two 1,400 km subsea fiber-optic cables linking Svalbard to mainland Norway lie as deep as 2,700 metres below the sea's surface. They carry vast amounts of satellite ​data downloaded at the SvalSat satellite ground station, the world's largest and part of NASA's Near Space Network.”
reuters.com
EXCLUSIVE: NATO allies foil Russian subsea cable sabotage plot
Deep in Arctic waters near the remote Svalbard archipelago this spring, NATO allies caught Russian subs training to unleash a secret weapon designed to disable critical undersea cables without leaving...
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
In conclusion, the real-estate approach didn’t work.
giftarticle.ft.com
US spy chief prepares for greater role in Russia-Ukraine talks
CIA director John Ratcliffe will be involved in shuttle diplomacy between Moscow and Kyiv
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 09/09/2026
Here it is. The excellent book by @drkatw.bsky.social. It’s been a great pleasure to supervise this research project. Kat put so much hard work into this book, and it couldn’t be more timely and important. I hope you’ll all read it.
Book titled ‘Women and Alternative für Deutschland”
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 08/09/2026
Man hatte lange Zeit, präventive Maßnahmen zu entwickeln für den Fall, dass die AfD Zugriff auf Intelligence und geheime Sicherheitsinformationen kriegt und Einfluss auf das LfV etc. ausüben kann. Jetzt ist die Panik groß - zu Recht.
sueddeutsche.de
AfD in Sachsen-Anhalt: „Reale Gefahr für die nationale Sicherheit“
Militär, Spionageabwehr, V-Leute: Zieht die russlandfreundliche AfD in die Landesregierung von Sachsen-Anhalt ein, käme sie an Staatsgeheimnisse. Was einen Datenabfluss noch verhindern soll.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
Alles schlimm. Einstufung als extreme Partei hält Wähler nicht ab. Hohe Wahlbeteiligung hat AfD geholfen. Populistischer Wahlkampf hat funktioniert. Zivilbevölkerung fühlt sich allein gelassen. Die BSW ist drin. Mediale Nachlese verstärkt AfD-nahe Narrative. www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/wahl...
Map of election results in Saxony-Anhalt
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Jonathan Boff @jfb1066.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
I will give the 2026 Richard Holmes Lecture ‘Redcoats to Dusty Warriors: Britain and its Soldiers from Waterloo to Helmand’. Royal Air Force Club Tuesday 27 October 6.30, lecture starting at 7. Wine. Canapés. Tickets £45 each. Non-members welcome. Tickets- www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/richard-ho...
eventbrite.co.uk
Richard Holmes Lecture 2026
The BCMH hosts a lecture on military history in memory of Professor Richard Holmes
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Thomas Wiegold @wiegold.de · 03/09/2026
More than 2,000 people including volunteers and students are taking part in the biggest civil defense exercise in Europe since the end of World War II. (h/t @vreij.bsky.social)
apnews.com
Finland runs Europe's biggest civil defense exercise since the Cold War
More than 2,000 people in Finland are participating in the largest civil defense drill in Europe since the end of World War II.
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Kaja Kallas @kajakallas.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
The Leipzig attacks have all the hallmarks of state-sponsored terrorism. We will respond with resolve. 1.600 listings for the military complex of Russia are already in the pipeline. We stand ready to add more. We have also summoned the Russian representative to the EU, as have many Member States.
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Catherine E. de Vries @catherinedevries.bsky.social · 31/08/2026
We’re hiring! Poli Sci & IR department at IE University in Madrid is hiring three tenure-track Assistant Professors, starting 1st of September 2027, in: Comparative Politics: lnkd.in/ePDfwjJB International Relations: lnkd.in/eDu5vGTf Political Economy: lnkd.in/eciDukTA 1/3
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Peter Ricketts @lordrickettsp.bsky.social · 29/08/2026
Thanks @markurban.bsky.social for quoting me in this cogent assessment of the Ratcliffe mission to Moscow. Whatever his precise talking points, the visit itself was part of the message, and is best followed up by prompt NATO-wide action to up the pressure on Russia in response to provocations.
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 28/08/2026
"The cover under which 'Laqueur' operated was flawless: educated, multilingual, a representative of a young, unburdened Germany, perfectly capable of discussing questions of legal philosophy with a woman like Hannah Arendt."
sueddeutsche.de
Eichmann trial: The German Spy Inside Eichmann’s Defense Team
In 1961, West German intelligence planted an agent in the Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. His marching orders? Preventing Andenauer’s Chancellery chief Hans Globke and other former Nazis from being menti...
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