Dr Matthew Hefler
@matthefler.bsky.social
Historian. International History and Intelligence Studies. AJI Postdoctoral Fellow. Former Press Secretary to the Premier of Nova Scotia.
Pinned
Dr Matthew Hefler
@matthefler.bsky.social
· Oct 15
Happy to get copies of my first edited collection, “Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict”.
Packed with essays from superstars of intelligence history, and beautifully produced by Bokförlaget Stolpe, the book will be useful for scholars, practitioners and enthusiasts alike.
📣 Ax:son Johnson Inst
Packed with essays from superstars of intelligence history, and beautifully produced by Bokförlaget Stolpe, the book will be useful for scholars, practitioners and enthusiasts alike.
📣 Ax:son Johnson Inst
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
@matthefler.bsky.social's latest is an absolute must read:
Josephine Baker spied for France 🇫🇷 against the Axis- but what if her most secret operation was against an ally? 🇬🇧
This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...
This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...
Josephine Baker's secret war
The singer-turned-spy Josephine Baker played a key, and hitherto unacknowledged, role during the Second World War in the secret contest between Britain and France in the Middle East.
engelsbergideas.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:42 PM
@matthefler.bsky.social's latest is an absolute must read:
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.
The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The politics of a military parade
From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.
engelsbergideas.com
September 10, 2025 at 3:40 PM
From Stalin’s 1941 May Day parade in Moscow to Xi’s Tiananmen Square display, military spectacles have long been used to project power and mask vulnerability.
The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
The politics of a military parade | Peter Caddick-Adams
engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...
Josephine Baker spied for France 🇫🇷 against the Axis- but what if her most secret operation was against an ally? 🇬🇧
This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...
This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...
Josephine Baker's secret war
The singer-turned-spy Josephine Baker played a key, and hitherto unacknowledged, role during the Second World War in the secret contest between Britain and France in the Middle East.
engelsbergideas.com
September 10, 2025 at 8:40 AM
Josephine Baker spied for France 🇫🇷 against the Axis- but what if her most secret operation was against an ally? 🇬🇧
This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...
This essay uses intelligence records to trace a desperate effort to counter British subversion & save the French Empire
@engelsbergideas.bsky.social
engelsbergideas.com/portraits/jo...
Loads to take in here at IAFIE, 2025!
Are you an Intelligence Studies authors and editors interested in discussing your work? Why not apply to join the author's panel during the joint IAFIE conference in Aranjuez-Madrid, Spain, September 9-11, 2025.
Please contact Dr. William Spracher, at spracherw@yahoo.com for more information.
Please contact Dr. William Spracher, at spracherw@yahoo.com for more information.
September 9, 2025 at 8:11 AM
Loads to take in here at IAFIE, 2025!
Looking forward to this here IAFIE in Aranjuez, Spain!
The organizers of the 2025 annual IAFIE conference asked me if I could submit a short video presentation of my contribution. So I decided to have some fun and make a video in the style of a dramatic documentary trailer:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQK3...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQK3...
IAFIE presention, Tony Ingesson
YouTube video by Tony Ingesson - Teaching & Research Videos
www.youtube.com
September 9, 2025 at 8:10 AM
Looking forward to this here IAFIE in Aranjuez, Spain!
“In a July 20 directive signed by Gabbard, reported by CBS, the U.S. intelligence community was given orders to classify all analysis and information related to the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations as "NOFORN," or no foreign dissemination”
www.politico.eu/article/tuls...
www.politico.eu/article/tuls...
Trump’s intel chief freezes out Five Eyes allies on Ukraine
The intelligence alliance of the U.K., Canada, Australia and New Zealand as well as the U.S. is one of the closest in the world.
www.politico.eu
August 25, 2025 at 1:33 AM
“In a July 20 directive signed by Gabbard, reported by CBS, the U.S. intelligence community was given orders to classify all analysis and information related to the Russia-Ukraine peace negotiations as "NOFORN," or no foreign dissemination”
www.politico.eu/article/tuls...
www.politico.eu/article/tuls...
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
I wrote recently in @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about the tension between political narratives and events as supported by intelligence.
Here’s more on that: former intelligence chiefs defending history (and their actions) against efforts to rewrite the past. 🇺🇸
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/o...
Here’s more on that: former intelligence chiefs defending history (and their actions) against efforts to rewrite the past. 🇺🇸
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/o...
Opinion | Brennan and Clapper: Let’s Set the Record Straight on Russia and 2016
www.nytimes.com
July 31, 2025 at 2:14 AM
I wrote recently in @engelsbergideas.bsky.social about the tension between political narratives and events as supported by intelligence.
Here’s more on that: former intelligence chiefs defending history (and their actions) against efforts to rewrite the past. 🇺🇸
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/o...
Here’s more on that: former intelligence chiefs defending history (and their actions) against efforts to rewrite the past. 🇺🇸
www.nytimes.com/2025/07/30/o...
Summer reading 📚
July 13, 2025 at 3:25 PM
Summer reading 📚
Glad speaking with @svenskadagbladet1.bsky.social on US intelligence on Iran and how to consider the public disputes around assessments 🇺🇸
Though hard to guauge from outside, recent events remind us to beware politicization of intelligence or secret services 🌍
English 👇
www.svd.se/a/kwoBJX/exp...
Though hard to guauge from outside, recent events remind us to beware politicization of intelligence or secret services 🌍
English 👇
www.svd.se/a/kwoBJX/exp...
Expert: Underrättelser om Iran har blivit politik
De motstridiga uppgifterna om bombningen av Iran tyder enligt spioneriexperten Matthew Hefler på att underrättelse i USA håller på att bli politik.
www.svd.se
June 30, 2025 at 11:32 AM
Glad speaking with @svenskadagbladet1.bsky.social on US intelligence on Iran and how to consider the public disputes around assessments 🇺🇸
Though hard to guauge from outside, recent events remind us to beware politicization of intelligence or secret services 🌍
English 👇
www.svd.se/a/kwoBJX/exp...
Though hard to guauge from outside, recent events remind us to beware politicization of intelligence or secret services 🌍
English 👇
www.svd.se/a/kwoBJX/exp...
Thanks to Sweden’s national TV network @svtnyheter.bsky.social for getting my reaction to 🇸🇪's recent intelligence review by Carl Bildt 🌍
I said that a new foreign intelligence agency will take time and must reflect Sweden's security needs and "intelligence culture" 🛠️ 🇸🇪
www.svt.se/nyheter/inri...
I said that a new foreign intelligence agency will take time and must reflect Sweden's security needs and "intelligence culture" 🛠️ 🇸🇪
www.svt.se/nyheter/inri...
Experten om ett ”svenskt CIA”: Verkar vilja gå i den riktningen
”Kan bli betydande förändringar” • Ny svensk underrättelsemyndighet föreslås
www.svt.se
June 23, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Thanks to Sweden’s national TV network @svtnyheter.bsky.social for getting my reaction to 🇸🇪's recent intelligence review by Carl Bildt 🌍
I said that a new foreign intelligence agency will take time and must reflect Sweden's security needs and "intelligence culture" 🛠️ 🇸🇪
www.svt.se/nyheter/inri...
I said that a new foreign intelligence agency will take time and must reflect Sweden's security needs and "intelligence culture" 🛠️ 🇸🇪
www.svt.se/nyheter/inri...
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
In his recent @theobserveruk.bsky.social piece on @edwardluce.bsky.social's 'Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Cold War Prophet', John Bew says "Brzezinski cuts a talented but frustrated figure"
Meet the President’s main man | The Observer
An elegant portrait of Jimmy Carter’s hawkish security adviser reveals him to be a pivotal figure in cold war policy
observer.co.uk
June 16, 2025 at 10:57 AM
In his recent @theobserveruk.bsky.social piece on @edwardluce.bsky.social's 'Zbig: The Life of Zbigniew Brzezinski, America's Cold War Prophet', John Bew says "Brzezinski cuts a talented but frustrated figure"
Podcast alert! 🚨 📻 I had the pleasure of chatting about my collection Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict on "Yukiko and Patrik meet"👇
This book brings together experts on issues of intelligence and security and was produced by the Ax:son Johnson Institute 🌍
open.spotify.com/episode/6VsQ...
This book brings together experts on issues of intelligence and security and was produced by the Ax:son Johnson Institute 🌍
open.spotify.com/episode/6VsQ...
7. Yukiko och Patrik möter Matthew Hefler
Stolpe Stories · Episode
open.spotify.com
June 17, 2025 at 10:33 AM
Podcast alert! 🚨 📻 I had the pleasure of chatting about my collection Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict on "Yukiko and Patrik meet"👇
This book brings together experts on issues of intelligence and security and was produced by the Ax:son Johnson Institute 🌍
open.spotify.com/episode/6VsQ...
This book brings together experts on issues of intelligence and security and was produced by the Ax:son Johnson Institute 🌍
open.spotify.com/episode/6VsQ...
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
📢 Exciting news! The Centre for Grand Strategy and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation are merging to form a new hub within @warstudieskcl.bsky.social: the Centre for Statecraft & National Security @csns-uk.bsky.social
➡️ You can find more information here: csns.uk
➡️ You can find more information here: csns.uk
May 22, 2025 at 11:58 AM
📢 Exciting news! The Centre for Grand Strategy and the International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation are merging to form a new hub within @warstudieskcl.bsky.social: the Centre for Statecraft & National Security @csns-uk.bsky.social
➡️ You can find more information here: csns.uk
➡️ You can find more information here: csns.uk
Today’s reading 📖
May 15, 2025 at 12:18 PM
Today’s reading 📖
Back in London for the London Defence Conference 🇬🇧
This year the exceptional and timely programme is focusing on the theme of Alliances 🌍
This year the exceptional and timely programme is focusing on the theme of Alliances 🌍
May 8, 2025 at 9:32 AM
Back in London for the London Defence Conference 🇬🇧
This year the exceptional and timely programme is focusing on the theme of Alliances 🌍
This year the exceptional and timely programme is focusing on the theme of Alliances 🌍
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
Invoking Munich & Neville Chamberlain to talk about Ukraine is fashionable but often misleading. In JSS, I review two recent books on appeasement - and examine how hype about new tech (air power) distorted British strategy in the 1930s. 50 free copies here 👇
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/43ETS...
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/43ETS...
‘Neville, you must remember you don’t know anything about foreign affairs’: Assurance, air power, and alternative histories to appeasement
This review essay explores British grand strategy during the interwar period, drawing on David French’s Deterrence, Coercion, and Appeasement and G. C. Peden’s Churchill, Chamberlain, and Appeaseme...
www.tandfonline.com
May 1, 2025 at 10:05 AM
Invoking Munich & Neville Chamberlain to talk about Ukraine is fashionable but often misleading. In JSS, I review two recent books on appeasement - and examine how hype about new tech (air power) distorted British strategy in the 1930s. 50 free copies here 👇
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/43ETS...
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/43ETS...
Delighted to announce that I have taken on the role of Project Lead of the new AJI Intelligence and Security Programme 🚨
This academic project examines the role of intelligence and secret services in statecraft, diplomacy, and international security. 🌍
Learn more:
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
This academic project examines the role of intelligence and secret services in statecraft, diplomacy, and international security. 🌍
Learn more:
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
April 17, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Delighted to announce that I have taken on the role of Project Lead of the new AJI Intelligence and Security Programme 🚨
This academic project examines the role of intelligence and secret services in statecraft, diplomacy, and international security. 🌍
Learn more:
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
This academic project examines the role of intelligence and secret services in statecraft, diplomacy, and international security. 🌍
Learn more:
www.linkedin.com/feed/update/...
Recently caught up with @thejeffdouglas.bsky.social @cbcradiocanada.bsky.social to discuss some of the latest news around intelligence, security and diplomacy 🌎
Main point was the role of intelligence services in protecting elections and cooperating with allies 🤝
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...
Main point was the role of intelligence services in protecting elections and cooperating with allies 🤝
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...
How Trump's Transactionalism Could Change Decades Old Security Relationships
Podcast Episode · Mainstreet Halifax · 2025-03-25 · 25m
podcasts.apple.com
April 15, 2025 at 10:38 AM
Recently caught up with @thejeffdouglas.bsky.social @cbcradiocanada.bsky.social to discuss some of the latest news around intelligence, security and diplomacy 🌎
Main point was the role of intelligence services in protecting elections and cooperating with allies 🤝
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...
Main point was the role of intelligence services in protecting elections and cooperating with allies 🤝
podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/m...
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
Very excited to finally get hold of this fantastic volume… After two cancelled online orders finally found it in the bookstore of the National Arboretum in Canberra of all places!
April 12, 2025 at 10:18 AM
Very excited to finally get hold of this fantastic volume… After two cancelled online orders finally found it in the bookstore of the National Arboretum in Canberra of all places!
Had a great 🇬🇧 book launch for Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict @kclcgs.bsky.social @kcsi.uk 💥
A big thanks to @drichterova.bsky.social @stevenbwagner.bsky.social and Philip Davies for discussing the collection and their contributions 🔥
If you missed it you can get a copy amzn.eu/d/2upuLlZ
A big thanks to @drichterova.bsky.social @stevenbwagner.bsky.social and Philip Davies for discussing the collection and their contributions 🔥
If you missed it you can get a copy amzn.eu/d/2upuLlZ
April 2, 2025 at 4:11 PM
Had a great 🇬🇧 book launch for Intelligence and Contemporary Conflict @kclcgs.bsky.social @kcsi.uk 💥
A big thanks to @drichterova.bsky.social @stevenbwagner.bsky.social and Philip Davies for discussing the collection and their contributions 🔥
If you missed it you can get a copy amzn.eu/d/2upuLlZ
A big thanks to @drichterova.bsky.social @stevenbwagner.bsky.social and Philip Davies for discussing the collection and their contributions 🔥
If you missed it you can get a copy amzn.eu/d/2upuLlZ
Thanks to the team @theconversationca.bsky.social for publishing this piece on the Canada-US Trade War 🇨🇦🇺🇸
I argue that Trump’s repeated claims against Canada are a strategic communications effort to bolster support for unjustified tariffs- and 🇨🇦 must respond👇
theconversation.com/forget-booin...
I argue that Trump’s repeated claims against Canada are a strategic communications effort to bolster support for unjustified tariffs- and 🇨🇦 must respond👇
theconversation.com/forget-booin...
Forget booing the anthem, Canada must employ strategic communications to fight Trump’s lies
In the Canada-U.S. trade war, Canadian officials are facing an American president who excels at creating false narratives. Canada must win the messaging war.
theconversation.com
March 28, 2025 at 10:00 AM
Thanks to the team @theconversationca.bsky.social for publishing this piece on the Canada-US Trade War 🇨🇦🇺🇸
I argue that Trump’s repeated claims against Canada are a strategic communications effort to bolster support for unjustified tariffs- and 🇨🇦 must respond👇
theconversation.com/forget-booin...
I argue that Trump’s repeated claims against Canada are a strategic communications effort to bolster support for unjustified tariffs- and 🇨🇦 must respond👇
theconversation.com/forget-booin...
Beautiful morning in London @kclcgs.bsky.social 🇬🇧 with our Applied History course from the Stockholm School of Economics 🇸🇪
March 27, 2025 at 8:49 AM
Beautiful morning in London @kclcgs.bsky.social 🇬🇧 with our Applied History course from the Stockholm School of Economics 🇸🇪
Reposted by Dr Matthew Hefler
It was a pleasure to sit down with Tom Nagorksi from @thecipherbrief.bsky.social alongside @matthefler.bsky.social to discuss European intelligence, transatlantic liaison, Five Eyes, and more. 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺
Is U.S.-Europe Intelligence Sharing at Risk?
YouTube video by The Cipher Brief
m.youtube.com
March 21, 2025 at 1:34 PM
It was a pleasure to sit down with Tom Nagorksi from @thecipherbrief.bsky.social alongside @matthefler.bsky.social to discuss European intelligence, transatlantic liaison, Five Eyes, and more. 🇺🇸🇬🇧🇪🇺