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Melanie Brand

@melaniebrand.bsky.social
1.5K followers 617 following 77 posts

Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney. Associate Editor, Intelligence & National Security; JPICT. Historian interested in intelligence, analysis, warning, secrecy, accountability and espionage pop culture.

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Reposted by Melanie Brand
Australian Spy Museum @aus-spymuseum.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
Australian Spy Museum's first exhibition is now on at the Lyox Gallery, 17 Lyons Road Drummoyne. There's LOTS of fascinating spycraft history on display. We're open Wednesdays - Sundays 10:30 - 5:30pm, and open until 8pm Fridays and Saturdays during October. #sydney #spycraft
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Luca Trenta @lucatrenta.bsky.social · 03/10/2026
I wouldn't say that it is necessarily a bargain, but Killing in the name of the state, the book I co-edited with @avramovok.bsky.social on state-sponsored assassinations is now half price on the Lynne Rienner website. www.rienner.com/title/Killin...
rienner.com
Lynne Rienner Publishers | Killing in the Name of the State State Sponsored Assassination in International Politics
Lynne Rienner Publishers, celebrating 35 years of independent publishing, is known for its cutting-edge, high quality scholarly and academic books and journals in politics, social sciences, and the hu...
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We have some great new books currently available for review at @jpict.bsky.social. We can be flexible with deadlines and welcome reviews from early career researchers. If you're interested in reviewing any these titles for us, please get in touch!
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/untrusting/9780231219440/https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/14300
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Sophie Duroy @sophieduroy.bsky.social · 07/09/2026
NEW PUBLICATION Very happy to share that my article on the Mazan/Pelicot case has been published in @flsjournal.bsky.social Read it open access here: doi.org/10.1007/s106... It is a very personal article, and I owe a lot to the colleagues & friends who helped me find my voice on this topic.
Screenshot of the article webpage. Abstract: This article offers a feminist socio-legal analysis of the Mazan case—the 2024 trial of 51 men for the rape of Gisèle Pelicot in France—and the 2025 consent law reform it inspired. Combining feminist legal theory, critical legal analysis, and situated reflection, it examines how patriarchal societies and legal systems convert gendered violence into narratives of protection and progress. Drawing on Iris Marion Young’s analysis of the logic of masculinist protection, the article shows how law, politics, and public discourse surrounding the case reproduced the patriarchal bargain that casts men and the state as protectors while shielding them from accountability. Through analysis of the myth of the “good man”, judicial responses to sexual violence, hierarchies of victims, and the structural affinities between patriarchal and security logics, the article argues that the Mazan case offered only the illusion of remedy, confirming the patriarchal system it appeared to challenge.
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 04/09/2026
I’m so sorry to miss this conference - there’s so many fantastic papers and presenters!
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petercgrace.bsky.social @petercgrace.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
What would Sherman Kent have made of the AI revolution in intelligence analysis? I spoke to Alp Arslan about the principles that might still hold, the augmented analyst and the motivation for today’s intelligence intellectual to work in national security. www.teknopolitika.com/p/interview-...
teknopolitika.com
Interview with Peter C. Grace: From Intelligence Intellectuals to Augmented Analysts
How the Cold War academic establishment echoes in the age of AI, where human judgment meets the “imponderables” and the specter of a latter-day Oppenheimer.
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 03/09/2026
We have some great new books currently available for review at @jpict.bsky.social. We can be flexible with deadlines and welcome reviews from early career researchers. If you're interested in reviewing any these titles for us, please get in touch!
https://cup.columbia.edu/book/untrusting/9780231219440/https://www.worldscientific.com/worldscibooks/10.1142/14300
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Andrew Zammit @andrewzammit.bsky.social · 26/08/2026
New blog post about a forthcoming special issue (edited by David Schaefer and I) of the journal Intelligence and National Security on intelligence reform in Australia: andrewzammit.org/2026/08/26/f...
andrewzammit.org
Forthcoming journal special issue on intelligence reform in Australia
A project that David Schaefer (from ANU) and I have been working on for some time has started to come to fruition. In 2025 we began guest editing a special issue of the journal Intelligence and Nat…
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petercgrace.bsky.social @petercgrace.bsky.social · 14/08/2026
Fantastic meeting of intelligence studies people in Sydney at Macquarie University with MQ @socintelhist.bsky.social. Thanks to @melaniebrand.bsky.social, Brian Cuddy and @aaronbateman.bsky.social for organising. Very valuable and hope to do it again soon.
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 05/08/2026
I am delighted to share the final program for our upcoming MQ & @socintelhist.bsky.social Workshop, Intelligence in the Southern Hemisphere: Past and Present. We so pleased to have been able to gather together such a fantastic group of ANZ intelligence studies scholars!
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Stephen Marrin @smarrin.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
See link below for call for papers for a special issue of the journal Intelligence and National Security on the topic of Psychology and Intelligence. For details, please contact Nicole Drumhiller at nicole.drumhiller@gmail.com Thanks! www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
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petercgrace.bsky.social @petercgrace.bsky.social · 03/08/2026
Sydney talk. Looking forward to talking at Macquarie University’s Intelligence Studies Research Group on Wednesday 12 August. Thanks to @melaniebrand.bsky.social and Brian Cuddy for the invitation! All welcome. And you can find a copy in the wild at Sydney’s Abbey’s bookshop!
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 24/07/2026
A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0268...
doi.org
Was Justice Hope wrong? Defence, diplomacy, and assessment in Australian intelligence reform
More than 50 years after commencing his first Royal Commission, Justice Robert Marsden Hope’s contribution to Australia’s intelligence community remains a point of almost universal acclaim in schol...
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 17/07/2026
Delighted to share that I have joined @intnatsecjournal.bsky.social as an Associate Editor. I'm honoured to be a part of such a fantastic editorial team and I'm looking forward to contributing to the journal's future success!
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Australian Policy and History @auspolicyhistory.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Today, in light of news that the US DOD is again blocking promotions for women and people of colour, we are resharing a recent piece by ADF vet and researcher Natalie Merryman on misogynistic responses from ADF members to Australia's first-ever woman Chief of Army aph.org.au/2026/05/sand...
aph.org.au
Sandwich jokes and service records: what the Coyle backlash tells us about Australian defence culture | Australian Policy and History
On 13 April 2026, Lieutenant General Susan Coyle was announced as the forty-second Chief of Army, the first woman to lead a branch of the Australian Defence Force in its 125-year history. By the time most Australians had finished their morning coffee, the online threads were already flooding with vitriol. She should be making sandwiches. […]
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Alex Blackwell @alexblackwell.bsky.social · 07/07/2026
A new open access article. doi.org/10.1080/0268...
doi.org
How routines shape reform: the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s mandate to counter foreign interference
This article examines the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s evolving mandate to counter foreign interference, comparing Cold War era reforms with 21st century reforms. It finds that r...
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IntelArchive @intelarchive.io · 05/07/2026
New addition Journal article: How routines shape reform: the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s mandate to counter foreign interference by Andrew Zammit (published 02-07-2026) doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2026.26903…
doi.org
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Andrew Zammit @andrewzammit.bsky.social · 03/07/2026
New article about how the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO)’s mandate to counter foreign interference has changed over the decades, and what that tells us about the factors that shape intelligence reform: www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....
tandfonline.com
How routines shape reform: the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s mandate to counter foreign interference
This article examines the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation’s evolving mandate to counter foreign interference, comparing Cold War era reforms with 21st century reforms. It finds that r...
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Tony Craig @tonycraig.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
Just advertised, a job as Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies and International Security. jobs.staffs.ac.uk/Vacancy.aspx... Exciting job, in a great team, but with a short turnaround. Applications close 7 July.
jobs.staffs.ac.uk
Job Opportunity at the University of Staffordshire: Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies
About the RoleAn exciting opportunity is available for a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer in Intelligence Studies who can also teach International Security.The successful candidate will work alongside our exp...
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
Are you in Melbourne on 30 July? @petercgrace.bsky.social will be speaking about his new book, The Intelligence Intellectuals, strategic warning and the ongoing relevance of intelligence analysis at the University of Melbourne at 4pm. Looks fantastic! 👉 www.eventbrite.com/e/the-intell...
eventbrite.com
The Intelligence Intellectuals: Social Scientists and the Making of the CIA
Two talks by Dr Peter C. Grace relating to his recent book. Imposter Syndrome and Intel Analysis and Lessons Learned.
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Tim Baxter @timinclimate.naruresearch.com.au · 22/06/2026
🚨On Monday July 27 at 2pm AEST, every phone in Australia will get very loud. 🚨 If you are vulnerable, with a phone as part of your escape plan, please make sure that you take steps to protect yourself. If you aren't vulnerable, please help get the word out to protect those who are.
ausalert.gov.au
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Tony Comer @tonycomer.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
To help those interested in Second World War UK cryptology who wonder about the difference between an indicator and a discriminant, what forty-weepy might be, or what bonking and blogging meant at that time, I have compiled from original sources a glossary. (1/3)
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Mia Martin Hobbs @miamh.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
Sydney friends, on Sat 27th I’ll be speaking about ‘Challenging Anzac: Stories that don’t fit the legend’ at the Maritime Museum, along with one of our authors @atomicmax.bsky.social! All are welcome, and it’s free! Info below Author Talk: Challenging ANZAC www.eventbrite.com.au/e/author-tal...
eventbrite.com.au
Author Talk: Challenging ANZAC
The ANZAC legend has shaped Australia’s national identity for more than a century. Yet many experiences of war do not fit within it.
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Sophie Duroy @sophieduroy.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
🚨 NEW PUBLICATION 🚨 Delighted to see our paper published open access in the @eui-law.bsky.social Working Papers series: hdl.handle.net/1814/95303 @martinscheinin.bsky.social and I critically examine the ECtHR's approach to mass surveillance and the future of Article 8 privacy protections.
hdl.handle.net
National security as exception : the European Court of Human Rights and the proceduralisation of privacy in the age of mass surveillance
This paper critically analyses European Court of Human Rights jurisprudence on bulk data collection, situating it within the Court’s broader turn to proceduralism. We argue that, in cases concerning m...
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 15/06/2026
This will be a great talk, so if you’re in Melbourne please do come along
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Mindy Haas @mindyhaas.bsky.social · 03/06/2026
New article with Katie M. Whipkey out today in @intnatsecjournal.bsky.social! "Dangerously Provocative: Co-optation to Undermining of Women's Groups by U.S. Intelligence Agencies" Free eprint: www.tandfonline.com/eprint/TCQZN...
tandfonline.com
Dangerously provocative: co-optation to undermining of women’s groups by U.S. intelligence agencies
This article examines how U.S. intelligence agencies, particularly the FBI and CIA, monitored and targeted women’s groups from the early 1900s to the 1970s as part of broader campaigns against Comm...
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James Crossland @jamescrossland.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
boydellandbrewer.com/history-of-b... 📢 Happy to say that I've recently taken over as editor of the History of British Intelligence series with @boydellandbrewer.bsky.social If you've got an idea for a book on the history of British intelligence - from any era -send me an email ⬇️ #history #spy 🗃 📚
boydellandbrewer.com
History of British Intelligence
Published research on the vital role that intelligence has played in forming and executing policy in modern history
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David Priess @davidpriess.bsky.social · 10/05/2026
Why I love declassified government docs, reason #51
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Briony Neilson @brionyneilson.bsky.social · 30/04/2026
12‑month fixed‑term fellowship for early‑career historians in Australian history at the University of Sydney starting 2027. Historians of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent, and scholars working in Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander history, are especially encouraged to apply.
usyd.wd105.myworkdayjobs.com
Colonel George Johnson Fellowship in Australian History
A 12‑month fixed‑term opportunity at 0.8 FTE, starting 2027 with scope for variation Applications are invited for the 2027 Colonel George Johnston Fellowship in Australian History for early‑career his...
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Sophie Duroy @sophieduroy.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
New essay, forthcoming in the inaugural issue of the Armenian Journal of International Law and already available on SSRN: dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn... Comments welcome!
Screenshot of paper's title page.
International law’s purgatory: Strategic uses of international law and the hollowing of the liberal international order
Sophie Duroy, University of Essex
Abstract
This essay challenges accounts that locate the crisis of the liberal international order primarily in growing noncompliance or open defiance of international law. It argues instead that the present moment is the culmination of decades of strategic legal justification. In recent decades, states have increasingly engaged international law to reinterpret, proceduralise, and instrumentalise it in ways that expand the scope of permissible violence while preserving law’s authority as a legitimising discourse. Through practices ranging from expansive readings of self-defence and proportionality to the routinisation of targeted killing, mass surveillance, and selective third-party interventions before international courts, contested interpretations have gradually reshaped the content of legal norms without formal amendment. This process of informal legal change has hollowed out international law’s constraining function while entrenching its discursive centrality. Situating these dynamics within debates on double standards and transitional orders, the essay conceptualises international law as occupying a “purgatory”: normatively authoritative yet increasingly ineffective as a restraint on power.
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 20/04/2026
I’m excited to share that my forthcoming book now has a website and a publication date! You can find out more and even pre-order here: press.georgetown.edu/Book/Blind-T...
press.georgetown.edu
Blind Trust
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Department of International Politics, Aberystwyth University @interpolaber.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Congratulations to our colleague @guttmannaviva.bsky.social whose book Operation Wrath of God has been shortlisted for the Kjetil Hatlebrekke Memorial Book Prize, awarded for research in global intelligence studies by King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence kcsi.uk/kjetil-hatle...
kcsi.uk
Kjetil Hatle­brekke Memo­r­i­al Book Prize - 2025
The Kjetil Hatlebrekke Memorial Book Prize The Kjetil Hatlebrekke Memorial Book Prize is a biennial award recognising scholarship within the realm of…
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Peter Whitewood @pwhitewood.bsky.social · 30/03/2026
A great permanent job at the University of Glasgow: Lecturer in the History of Intelligence and International Relations, post-1850
jobs.ac.uk
Lecturer in the History of War and International Relations in the Modern Period (R&T) at University of Glasgow
An opportunity for an academic position as a Lecturer in the History of War and International Relations in the Modern Period (R&T) is available, as advertised on jobs.ac.uk. Apply now and explore othe...
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King's Centre for the Study of Intelligence (KCSI) @kcsi.uk · 27/03/2026
✍🏼 The 2025 Kjetil Hatlebrekke Memorial Book Prize Shortlist is here!
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Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism @jpict.bsky.social · 26/03/2026
🔊 📖 We are delighted to share @ronanmainprize.bsky.social's review of @jrogg.bsky.social's 'The Spy and the State.' Mainprize argues that 'Rogg's book will likely become a key reference for the spy, the state, and the scholar.' 📖 Read the review here ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...
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The Society for Intelligence History @socintelhist.bsky.social · 21/03/2026
Two more days left to get your submissions in for the SIH Annual Conference! Submit proposals by March 23. @kcsi.uk
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Kris Inwood @kris-inwood.bsky.social · 14/03/2026
Lecturer in Medieval & Early Modern History The School of History at the ANU seeks to appoint a Lecturer in History. Applicants working at the forefront of gender history between the 12th & 18th centuries, and on regions beyond Europe & Australia, are encouraged to apply. Applications due 19 April.
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Sophie Duroy @sophieduroy.bsky.social · 10/03/2026
🚨 New publication Very happy to share that my article in @globcon.bsky.social has now been published open access. You can read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S204...
Abstract of the paper: This article examines the paradoxical effects of international legal accountability processes on the international law of intelligence. In response to increasing exposure of their intelligence activities, liberal democracies have shifted from a national security culture of secrecy to one of legal rationalisation, offering legal justifications to defend and legitimate contested practices. Rather than improving compliance, accountability processes have enabled states to strategically reshape legal norms to accommodate their preferred policies. Focusing on how legal justifications affect international law’s constraining function, the article analyses the effects of legal justifications on three dimensions of legal norms: obligation, precision and delegation. Intertwining doctrinal legal analysis with International Relations scholarship on rhetorical and justificatory approaches to international law, it identifies four causal mechanisms through which strategic legal justifications decrease law’s constraining power on state behaviour and facilitate norm evasion. The article demonstrates how strategic uses of international law for legitimation purposes can gradually alter legal norms without formal changes to legal texts or institutions, ultimately decreasing international law’s constraining power. Shedding light on the limits and risks of legalisation as a regulatory strategy, these findings raise important questions about the effectiveness and adequacy of legal accountability strategies, particularly strategic litigation, in inducing behavioural change.
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
This. It takes so much more effort and time to mark students’ work and assess journal submissions that have been written/heavily edited by AI
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Some interesting detail here about the intelligence picture (esp. SIGINT) in the run-up to the assassination. We’ll be talking about surveillance and algorithms in tomorrow’s seminar on my secrecy & accountability module.
giftarticle.ft.com
Inside the plan to kill Ali Khamenei
Israel spent years hacking Tehran’s traffic cameras and monitoring bodyguards ahead of the assassination of Iran’s supreme leader
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The Society for Intelligence History @socintelhist.bsky.social · 02/03/2026
Just under 2 weeks left to get your submissions in for SIH’s 2026 conference, hosted at King’s College London with the 𝗞𝗶𝗻𝗴’𝘀 𝗖𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 kcsi.uk and the 𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗪𝗮𝗿 𝗦𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 @warstudieskcl.bsky.social 𝗗𝗲𝗮𝗱𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗲 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 15, send proposals to: SIH2026Conf@gmail.com
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petercgrace.bsky.social @petercgrace.bsky.social · 23/02/2026
REVIEW: Monica Robbins compares the kind of research academics do in the university with "strategic intelligence analysis [which is] is inherently messy, high-stakes, and subject to rapidly changing circumstances and incomplete information."
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Intelligence and National Security @intnatsecjournal.bsky.social · 20/02/2026
Interesting story in today's Guardian about intelligence in the lead up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago. www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int... For more on this, see our Special Issue on intelligence and the Ukraine War, published in Feb 2022. www.tandfonline.com/toc/fint20/3...
tandfonline.com
Intelligence and National Security
Intelligence and the Russo-Ukrainian War. Volume 39, Issue 3 of Intelligence and National Security
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 19/02/2026
I’m super excited to share the cover of my new book “Blind Trust: Secrecy, Scandal and intelligence Accountability in Cold War Australia”! Coming out soon with @georgetownup.bsky.social
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 08/02/2026
This ⬇️ We really appreciate the hard work of all the researchers, peer reviewers and book reviewers that make each issue possible. Thank you!
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Dr. Claudia Hillebrand @ckhillebrand.bsky.social · 30/01/2026
🕵️‍♀️ Last chance to nominate #intelligence books for the Polly Corrigan and Kjetil Hatlebrekke Book Prizes. 🤩
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petercgrace.bsky.social @petercgrace.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
Out Monday! Sir Lawrence Freedman called it "a fascinating history". Never been more topical. How social scientists invented strategic intelligence analysis in 1950 and re-established CIA's reputation. Order now on Amazon Books amazon.com/Intelligence-I…
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Evan @evansmithhist.bsky.social · 01/01/2026
The National Archives of Australia have declassified federal Cabinet documents for 2005 today. A selection have been digitised. www.naa.gov.au/explore-coll...
naa.gov.au
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 27/12/2025
This ⬇️ Please do get in touch with the book review editor of a journal in your field if you have a new book for review or if you’d like to review a particular book. I’m always happy to hear about new releases and will get you a review copy if you want to review something for @jpict.bsky.social
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Melanie Brand @melaniebrand.bsky.social · 18/12/2025
In the midst of everything going on this week, I wrote a thing for the Australian Policy & History blog on the ongoing impact of James Bond, even in Australia:
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