@douglaslondon.bsky.social
Retired CIA Ops Officer and Chief of Station; Georgetown SFS, John Hopkins SAIS, and Author of THE RECRUITER: Spying and the Lost Art of American Intelligence
Pinned
The Recruiter by Douglas London | Hachette Books
Why do people spy for @CIA How are spies actually recruited? And what’s life truly like for a CIA ops officer. The Recruiter is a great holiday read that provides context for today’s headlines.
a.co/d/hiIwMRd
Look forward to joining #ChrisCosta for #SpyChat at the @IntlSpyMuseum on July 10th at 12PM for a conversation on espionage and national security. Please join us! www.spymuseum.org/calendar/spy...
Spy Chat with Chris Costa
Join us for an online discussion of the latest intelligence, national security, and terrorism issues in the news. Spy Museum Executive Director Chris Costa will lead the briefing. Costa, a former inte...
www.spymuseum.org
June 6, 2025 at 5:30 PM
Look forward to joining #ChrisCosta for #SpyChat at the @IntlSpyMuseum on July 10th at 12PM for a conversation on espionage and national security. Please join us! www.spymuseum.org/calendar/spy...
Summer is for spying! Back on The Hill at Georgetown for a summer version of “Human Intelligence Operations” for our Security Studies Program grad students.
May 20, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Summer is for spying! Back on The Hill at Georgetown for a summer version of “Human Intelligence Operations” for our Security Studies Program grad students.
My thanks to the students, faculty and staff for inviting me to speak on The Role of Intelligence in Foreign Policy at the University of Arizona. youtu.be/-TwJqaU-HyM?...
Doug London- The Role of Intelligence in Foreign Policy
YouTube video by CAST UArizona
youtu.be
April 5, 2025 at 2:43 AM
My thanks to the students, faculty and staff for inviting me to speak on The Role of Intelligence in Foreign Policy at the University of Arizona. youtu.be/-TwJqaU-HyM?...
Happy to be speaking at the University of Arizona on the Role and Intelligence in Foreign Policy
April 1, 2025 at 4:04 PM
Happy to be speaking at the University of Arizona on the Role and Intelligence in Foreign Policy
Friend and retired CIA icon #JimLawler’s “A Traitor's Tale' stands apart from today's spy genre inviting the reader into the guarded souls of spies and their recruiters revealing their hopes, fears, scars and ambitions. A high octane journey to a shadowy world few know.
March 20, 2025 at 2:02 PM
Friend and retired CIA icon #JimLawler’s “A Traitor's Tale' stands apart from today's spy genre inviting the reader into the guarded souls of spies and their recruiters revealing their hopes, fears, scars and ambitions. A high octane journey to a shadowy world few know.
Much enjoyed @drichterova.bsky.social ‘s “Watching the Jackals,” illuminating the former Czechoslovakia’s Cold War collaboration with terrorist groups. Meticulously researched, a scholarly take on Prague’s complex relationships serving Moscow’s interests while protecting its own.
March 20, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Much enjoyed @drichterova.bsky.social ‘s “Watching the Jackals,” illuminating the former Czechoslovakia’s Cold War collaboration with terrorist groups. Meticulously researched, a scholarly take on Prague’s complex relationships serving Moscow’s interests while protecting its own.
Pleased to announce I've accepted an appointment to teach "The Role of Intelligence in U.S. Foreign Policy" for @SAISHopkins John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies' 2025 Summer Academy. sais.jhu.edu/academics/di...
February 18, 2025 at 4:27 PM
Pleased to announce I've accepted an appointment to teach "The Role of Intelligence in U.S. Foreign Policy" for @SAISHopkins John Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies' 2025 Summer Academy. sais.jhu.edu/academics/di...
Had a great time talking intelligence, espionage and writing, with the talented panelists and scholarly audience.
Lunch with the authors: Nicholas Reynolds, @douglaslondon.bsky.social, @ellenwapo.bsky.social, and
@alexrose.com.
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@alexrose.com.
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February 8, 2025 at 7:25 PM
Had a great time talking intelligence, espionage and writing, with the talented panelists and scholarly audience.
My thanks to @jrebecchi and @nyit for inviting me to speak to the human element to Insider Threat and mitigation approaches from a life in espionage.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
January 28, 2025 at 1:13 AM
My thanks to @jrebecchi and @nyit for inviting me to speak to the human element to Insider Threat and mitigation approaches from a life in espionage.
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/i...
Suggested questions Senators should pose to DCIA nominee John Ratcliffe during confirmation hearings, via @justsecurity.org
www.justsecurity.org/106321/quest...
www.justsecurity.org/106321/quest...
Questions for Senators (and Journalists) to Ask CIA Director Nominee John Ratcliffe
We asked intelligence experts and former members of the intelligence community for questions they would ask Ratcliffe in Wednesday's hearing.
www.justsecurity.org
January 14, 2025 at 9:52 PM
Suggested questions Senators should pose to DCIA nominee John Ratcliffe during confirmation hearings, via @justsecurity.org
www.justsecurity.org/106321/quest...
www.justsecurity.org/106321/quest...
Great conversation on Russian GRU unit 29155 and addressing the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare with the @Eyes-on-Podcast crew. youtu.be/zRc5TRVKPYw?...
Inside Putin's Covert Unit (GRU Unit 29155) w/ former CIA Officer Doug London
YouTube video by EYES ON PODCAST
youtu.be
January 13, 2025 at 12:27 AM
Great conversation on Russian GRU unit 29155 and addressing the Kremlin’s hybrid warfare with the @Eyes-on-Podcast crew. youtu.be/zRc5TRVKPYw?...
Reposted
According to @douglaslondon.bsky.social, former CIA head of CT for South Asia, the program was far more strategic and ambitious: to drive the U.S. out of Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia.
January 8, 2025 at 5:05 PM
According to @douglaslondon.bsky.social, former CIA head of CT for South Asia, the program was far more strategic and ambitious: to drive the U.S. out of Afghanistan and the rest of Central Asia.
My comments on Russian GRU’s Afghan campaign to bleed American forces via @michaeldweiss.bsky.social
theins.ru/en/politics/...
theins.ru/en/politics/...
Afgantsy Redux: How Russian military intelligence used the Taliban to bleed U.S. forces at the end of America’s longest war
The GRU, Russia’s military intelligence agency, spent years financing terrorist groups in Afghanistan to target U.S. and coalition forces. An investigation by The Insider has not only confirmed the ex...
theins.ru
January 8, 2025 at 4:51 PM
My comments on Russian GRU’s Afghan campaign to bleed American forces via @michaeldweiss.bsky.social
theins.ru/en/politics/...
theins.ru/en/politics/...
Russian Telegram suggests Kyiv downed the Azeri plane-adds to Russian culpability. Russian disinfo loudest when accusing others of its own wrong doing. Did Russia jam the plane’s GPS to keep it from landing/crashing beyond Russia?
t.me/logikamarkov...
t.me/logikamarkov...
Логика Маркова
Украина сбила пассажирский самолёт? Катастрофа самолёта АЗАЛ могла быть из-за его поражения БПЛА ВСУ в районе Грозного или от работы ПВО против БПЛА ВСУ. Об этом говорят характерные повреждения фюзеля...
t.me
December 27, 2024 at 11:36 PM
Russian Telegram suggests Kyiv downed the Azeri plane-adds to Russian culpability. Russian disinfo loudest when accusing others of its own wrong doing. Did Russia jam the plane’s GPS to keep it from landing/crashing beyond Russia?
t.me/logikamarkov...
t.me/logikamarkov...
Similarities to the ‘16 Berlin attack not likely coincidental. The Saudis will know whether he has extremist ties or self radicalized (likely IS inspired). A reminder too that not all Saudis favor MbS reforms-much churn brewing underneath. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/w...
Christmas Market Ramming in Magdeburg, Germany, Kills 2 and Injures Dozens of Others
Video showed a car plowing into a large crowd in the city of Magdeburg. The driver, identified as a 50-year-old Saudi Arabian citizen who worked as a doctor, was arrested.
www.nytimes.com
December 20, 2024 at 10:43 PM
Similarities to the ‘16 Berlin attack not likely coincidental. The Saudis will know whether he has extremist ties or self radicalized (likely IS inspired). A reminder too that not all Saudis favor MbS reforms-much churn brewing underneath. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/20/w...
“Putin’s ultimate objectives are to relitigate the post–Cold War order in Europe, weaken the US & usher in a new international system that affords Russia the status & influence Putin believes it deserves.” via @michaelkofman.bsky.social & #AndreaKendall-Taylor
www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/putin...
www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/putin...
Putin’s Point of No Return
An unchecked Russia will challenge the West.
www.foreignaffairs.com
December 20, 2024 at 6:07 PM
“Putin’s ultimate objectives are to relitigate the post–Cold War order in Europe, weaken the US & usher in a new international system that affords Russia the status & influence Putin believes it deserves.” via @michaelkofman.bsky.social & #AndreaKendall-Taylor
www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/putin...
www.foreignaffairs.com/russia/putin...
Sharing my thoughts with @nytimes.com on Ukraine’s killing of a Russian general in Moscow and what it tells us. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/w...
Killing of Russian General Sends a Message, but Doesn’t Change the War for Ukraine
Ukraine’s forces are steadily losing ground on the battlefield. The assassination of a top general in Moscow won’t improve their war effort, analysts and Western officials say.
www.nytimes.com
December 18, 2024 at 5:25 PM
Sharing my thoughts with @nytimes.com on Ukraine’s killing of a Russian general in Moscow and what it tells us. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/18/w...
As Ukraine faces the prospect of reduced US support under Trump, Kyiv will likely increase asymmetrical acts to bring the war home to Russia’s elite psychologically (assassinations) and materially (strikes on the petrol industry). www.cnn.com/2024/12/17/e...
Key Russian general killed in Moscow bomb blast claimed by Ukraine | CNN
A top Russian general accused of using chemical weapons on the battlefields in Ukraine was killed after a bomb went off in Moscow early Tuesday, Russian investigators said, in an attack swiftly claime...
www.cnn.com
December 17, 2024 at 4:23 PM
As Ukraine faces the prospect of reduced US support under Trump, Kyiv will likely increase asymmetrical acts to bring the war home to Russia’s elite psychologically (assassinations) and materially (strikes on the petrol industry). www.cnn.com/2024/12/17/e...
My comments for The Wall Street Journal concerning Tulsi Gabbard’s DNI nomination, via Warren Strobel. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
Tulsi Gabbard Questioned U.S. Intelligence. Now She Is Trump’s Pick for Top Intelligence Role.
From blaming NATO for the Ukraine war to echoing Russian propaganda, the former congresswoman has ruffled feathers inside the spy agencies she could soon lead.
www.wsj.com
December 14, 2024 at 9:20 PM
My comments for The Wall Street Journal concerning Tulsi Gabbard’s DNI nomination, via Warren Strobel. www.wsj.com/politics/pol...
I appreciated the invitation from Vermont Senator Peter Welch to discuss the Middle East and future opportunities at his office in the Russell Senate Building.
December 14, 2024 at 8:59 PM
I appreciated the invitation from Vermont Senator Peter Welch to discuss the Middle East and future opportunities at his office in the Russell Senate Building.
Overshadowed by Syria, Khalil Haqqani’s assassination is big. He was Siraj’s right hand, the Haqqani’s primary senior liaison to Pakistan ISI, al Qa’ida and the numerous regional terror groups. We tracked/hunted him for years, came close. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/w...
Blast in Afghanistan Kills a Taliban Leader, Khalil Haqqani
The government accused the Islamic State of being behind the attack, which struck at the heart of the Taliban’s power structure after years of essentially unchallenged dominance.
www.nytimes.com
December 14, 2024 at 8:57 PM
Overshadowed by Syria, Khalil Haqqani’s assassination is big. He was Siraj’s right hand, the Haqqani’s primary senior liaison to Pakistan ISI, al Qa’ida and the numerous regional terror groups. We tracked/hunted him for years, came close. www.nytimes.com/2024/12/11/w...
The Recruiter by Douglas London | Hachette Books
Why do people spy for @CIA How are spies actually recruited? And what’s life truly like for a CIA ops officer. The Recruiter is a great holiday read that provides context for today’s headlines.
a.co/d/hiIwMRd
December 14, 2024 at 8:56 PM
The Recruiter by Douglas London | Hachette Books
Why do people spy for @CIA How are spies actually recruited? And what’s life truly like for a CIA ops officer. The Recruiter is a great holiday read that provides context for today’s headlines.
a.co/d/hiIwMRd