Intelligence Apparatus Research Articles

“Raiders of the past”: Bulgarian state Security’s cultural historical intelligence in service of Regime’s quest for “socialist patriotism”

ABSTRACT The essential purpose of this article is to revisit the functions and role of the Bulgarian State Security’s Department XIV, also known as the Cultural Historical Intelligence Department (CHI or Kulturno istorichesko razuznavane). This analysis examines how the department served as a policy support tool for the regime’s pursuit of legitimacy in the late 1970s. It also explores how the department supported cultural nationalism while combatting ‘ideological subversion.’ This overview aims to add to a more nuanced understanding of the foreign intelligence apparatuses’ roles and functions in the former Eastern Bloc totalitarian states in the shadow of their Soviet counterpart. In this case, nuances are sought to improve understanding of Todor Zhivkov’s totalitarian regime’s inception and instrumentalization of CHI in the quest for internal and external credibility and prestige while attempting to trace a path to a unique form of national communism.

The Ukraine war and the shift in Russian intelligence priorities

ABSTRACT The war in Ukraine has transformed Russian intelligence activities. It has drawn the bulk of Russian intelligence collection resources, both inside Ukraine and further afield, to focus on war-related, often low-level operational/tactical targets. Even strategic collection is related to the war, especially directed toward bolstering Russia’s global reputation. However, the war has also led to the dismantling of a large portion of Russia’s intelligence apparatus, including both human and signals intelligence, especially in Europe, just when it is needed the most. It has prompted greater scrutiny and international counterintelligence cooperation against Russian intelligence activities than has been seen since the 1980s. Russia’s own actions have drawn those reactions. Nevertheless, Russian intelligence services are resilient and persistent. They learn from mistakes and adapt to changing circumstances.

Lending An Ear: Project Chestnut and U.S.-China Intelligence Cooperation, 1975–1989

On April 19, 1979, then Senator Biden publicly probed Vice Premier Deng Xiaoping on a proposal that, for four years, had been confined to secrecy: “Would China consider U.S. monitoring stations on Chinese soil?” The proposal came to be known as Project Chestnut, a joint effort between Beijing and Washington to construct anti-Soviet intelligence posts in western China in 1979. Through official documents, press leaks, and personal memoirs, the project’s study reveals vulnerabilities in America’s intelligence apparatus, the converging and diverging anti-Soviet interests of Beijing and Washington, and a year-long covert diplomatic effort between Carter and Deng. In investigating the project that culminated in Chinese and American intelligence officials watching Soviet missile tests from a joint station, this paper reassesses the traditionally assumed archetypes of inter-state collaboration and uncovers a deeper level of U.S.-China Cold War cooperation than previously assumed. Finally, this research has implications for understanding modern Sino-American relations, not least because the junior Senator that took point in the project’s public negotiations now has a desk in the Oval Office.

The Rise and Fall of South Africa’s Intelligence Community during Apartheid

The author explores the context that contributed to the evolution of the South African Intelligence Community (SAIC) from political police to an independent security state during the apartheid, nondemocratic regime (1961–1994). It also assesses the circumstances that led to the demise of authoritarian rule and the reform of the intelligence apparatus. It finds that such factors as the security landscape, changes in leadership, and enabling legislation assisted the SAIC’s consolidation of power as political police, morphing it into an independent security state during that period. Subsequently, leadership, liberalization measures, scandals, and inquiries contributed to the demise of the apartheid intelligence apparatus and the slow emergence of a democratically inclined SAIC.

Portuguese Intelligence under Salazar’s Estado Novo

The Portuguese intelligence apparatus under António de Oliveira Salazar’s Estado Novo (New State) remains understudied. Even if there has been a relevant development of literature in general political terms after 25 April 1974, both in Portuguese and foreign languages, this interest seems to have decreased, even in the Portuguese sphere. This article aims at filling this gap in the literature. It provides an understanding of the historical context that enabled Salazar to develop Polícia Internacional e de Defesa do Estado’s political police role in the historical context of both multipolarity before 1945 and bipolarity after the end of World War II.

Spanish Intelligence in the Early Days of Late-Francoism: Fault Lines and Continuity

Conflicting factions within the late-Francoist regime, starting around 1968, prompted a slow-paced decline of the regime’s internal power structures, with an uncertain expiry date. Clandestine groups within universities and workers’ organizations pressed for regime change at different levels, and voices also emerged from within the Catholic Church and the army, often with the aim of restoring Spain’s international relations with its European neighbors and ending isolation. Increasingly rattled by the violence and the organized terrorist activity of Euskadi Ta Askatasuna, the repressive apparatus of the regime was determined not to relinquish control. It retaliated with large doses of information, disinformation, propaganda, and outright violence. Late-Francoist Spain thus presents a case study of practices and dynamics initiated during a nondemocratic period, whose legacy survived over the years and influenced the intelligence apparatus of the democratic country in which the Spanish now live.

The representations of journalists in Naguib Mahfouz’s novellas: How are they reflected in today’s journalism in Egypt?

This interdisciplinary study explores representations of journalists linking literary criticism with media cultural studies. The researcher examines works from the sixties by Nobel laureate writer and novelist Naguib Mahfouz. While the article concentrates on Mahfouz’s works dealing with journalism, it presents a qualitative analysis of three novellas of his from the sixties: The Thief and the Dogs, The Beggar and A Drift on the Nile. In these works, Mahfouz presents cogent and well-founded arguments on the image of the Egyptian journalists, which manifest itself until now. The article argues that the psychological and social aspects of journalism that Mahfouz delineates are recalled nowadays in the vast, ubiquitous mediascape Egypt inhabits as evidence of the self-perpetuated nature of the masterful Egyptian culture. In this work Norman Fairclough’s model of discourse analysis is employed to survey the roles and characteristics of journalists in a context of power and ideology during President Nasser’s regime and shows not only how they are similar to those of journalists nowadays but also the evolution of journalists under el-Sisi neo-authoritarianism. It also draws on the thoughts of theorists like Lucien Goldmann, mainly the concept of ‘world vision’ to inspect the problem of the identity of Egyptian journalism. The study concludes that these three novels show journalists’ negative image as traitors, subservient to political power, sellers of trivia or full of nihilism. Mahfouz’s representations reflect the outputs of Egyptian media milieu under authoritarian Nasser’s era. The article reflects upon contemporary authoritarian regime in Egypt, discussing the types of media practitioners currently exist who almost repeat the almost-closed cultural circle, only with a complete control of intelligence apparatus.

Institutional Study of the European Union Intelligence and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN)

This article delves into the intricate domain of the European Union's intelligence apparatus, notably, the European Union Intelligence and Situation Centre (EU INTCEN). Employing a historiographical analysis of both domestic and international literature, the authors synthesize insights from Russian and foreign scholars concerning the genesis of intelligence operations in a unified Europe, focusing on their structural attributes. Furthermore, this study seeks to evaluate the contemporary state and potential directions of the EU's intelligence activities, considering both their functional and institutional dimensions.

"Our Cruel Polish Brothers": Moroccan Jews between Casablanca and Wadi Salib, 1956–59

Abstract: This article reconsiders three years in the lives of Jews in Morocco and their families who chose to immigrate to Israel. Relying on private correspondence between Moroccan Jews in Israel and in Morocco that was secretly intercepted by the Israeli intelligence apparatus, I argue that Moroccan Jews in Israel underwent a major process of radicalization between Moroccan independence in 1956 and the Moroccan uprising in Israel in 1959, known as the Wadi Salib revolt. In the Moroccan-Israeli case, Moroccan Jews introduced race into the Israeli discourse, and sought to leverage this discourse for a redistribution of resources, primarily among Jews. This radicalization initially developed against the backdrop of the Moroccan struggle for independence against French colonialism; however, other anticolonial and antiracist struggles of the 1950s were also influential. Thus, the prevailing assessment of the Wadi Salib revolt solely as "an Israeli event" diminishes the longer trajectories of Moroccan radicalization.

The Role of Intelligence in Countering Terrorism in Poso Regency

The results of this study indicate that the role of Intelligence, in this case, the Poso Police Intelligence apparatus in early warning early detection, has been able to carry out its duties and authorities to reduce or minimize security disturbances in society. This can be seen in the death of 5 terrorist DPO in Poso. ( five ) people in the 2021-2022 period. These efforts are carried out in several types of early detection activities. How to Identification, Fingerprint, Modus operandi, Files, Informants, Interrogations, and Scientific Assistance. These methods are used to detect perpetrators of criminal acts of terrorism to find perpetrators of crimes. The Intelligence function in deradicalizing former terrorism is undoubtedly needed so that the spread and development of terrorism can be minimized. The author suggests that the intelligence function in carrying out early detection in anticipating the threat of terrorist interference that occurs, it is best if the intelligence report provided to the leadership must be truly accurate and not made up so that the law can account for it.

Preventivne mere u borbi protiv terorizma

Today, terrorism is one of the main security risks for countries across Europe. The so-called virus of extremism is spreading to an increasing number of member states of the European Union and as such represents a strong basis for committing terrorist acts. In order to stop this form of security threat, it is necessary to develop a preventive defense system. Preventive measures in the prevention of terrorism include primarily the activities of the intelligence apparatus, but also the involvement of the family, community, media, etc. Also, international cooperation and communication between security services around the world is of key importance in preventing the spread of the virus of extremism that can turn into terrorism. The process of identifying terrorists and terrorist organizations in order to sanction them and put them under the supervision of competent services is important for the development of a preventive defense mechanism. Preventive activities in the fight against terrorism can be carried out in all socio-political fields and only in this way the preventive mechanism of defense against terrorism can be successful.

Peculiarities of operational investigative measures and covert investigative (detective) actions in the investigation of hooliganism committed by football fans

The article analyzes the problems of detection, prevention and investigation of the facts of criminal offenses committed by football fans using the means and methods of operational investigative activities and conducting covert investigative investigative actions with the aim of documenting the specified illegal activity. The most frequent act of hooliganism is committed by members of groups of football fans. In order to solve these problems, the article outlines the main directions of preventive activities using the capabilities of the intelligence apparatus, and suggests some secret investigative (search) actions that can be used during the pre-trial investigation for the purpose of qualitative investigation and documentation of illegal actions of football hooligans. The main principles of ensuring security and law and order during football matches are preventive, adequate, effective and legal. Achieving the desired results in the implementation of these principles is possible when applying a set of actions, including through the use of operational investigative measures and covert investigative (search) actions. Operational investigative measures - the system of actions provided for by the current legislation, aimed at the use of operational investigative means and methods, carried out within the limits of their competence by specially authorized units and their officials, with the aim of solving specific tasks of operative investigative activity. Undisclosed investigative (search) actions are a type of investigative (search) actions, information about the facts and methods of conducting which are not subject to disclosure, except for the cases stipulated by the Criminal Procedure Code of Ukraine. Taking into account the long-term and organized illegal actions of groups of football fans, their systematicity and influence on the general criminal situation in the cities where football matches are held, it is necessary to use the entire complex of operative and investigative measures and covert investigative (detective) actions. In particular, it is necessary to use the capabilities of the agency and illegal officers. It should be borne in mind that a person whose constitutional rights were temporarily restricted during secret investigative (search) actions, as well as the suspect, his defender must be notified in writing by the prosecutor or the investigator on his behalf about such restriction.
 The use of operational investigative measures and covert investigative (detective) actions in order to document the facts of hooliganism committed by groups of fans is quite an influential factor in identifying negative phenomena in the modern football field and preventing illegal actions by football hooligans.

Do Artificial Neural Networks Always Provide High Prediction Performance? An Experimental Study on the Insufficiency of Artificial Neural Networks in Capacitance Prediction of the 6H-SiC/MEH-PPV/Al Diode

In this paper, we study a new model that represents the symmetric connection between capacitance–voltage and Schottky diode. This model has a symmetrical shape towards the horizontal direction. In recent times, works conducted on artificial neural network structure, which is one of the greatest actual artificial intelligence apparatuses used in various fields, stated that artificial neural networks are apparatuses that proposal very high forecast performance by the side of conventional structures. In the current investigation, an artificial neural network structure has been generated to guess the capacitance voltage productions of the Schottky diode with organic polymer edge, contingent on the frequency with a symmetrical shape. Of the dataset, 130 were grouped for training, 28 for validation, and 28 for testing. In order to evaluate the effect of the number of neurons on the prediction accuracy, three different models with different neuron numbers have been developed. This study, in which an artificial neural network model, although well-trained, could not predict the output values correctly, is a first in the literature. With this aspect, the study can be considered as a pioneering study that brings a novelty to the literature.

Rupturing The Financing of Terrorism: Examination of The Adequacy of Nigerian Law

Global concern over terrorism and financing of terrorism became greatly heightened after September 11, 2001 bombing of the World Trade Centre with the concerted efforts put to bear across countries towards reassessment of policies, strategies and the readiness to forge international cooperation to ‘‘choke” the financing of terrorist groups and Organisations in support of terrorism. The employment of intelligence against terror and the confirmation of reports and findings of the States’ intelligence apparatuses also shed new knowledge which often dictates constant redefinition of terms and approaches in the fight against terrorism. Despite the elaborate legal framework in Combating Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism in Nigeria, little can be said to have been achieved. It is suggested that all parties involved in the administration of criminal justice shall collaborate to ensure that criminal cases particularly Anti-Money Laundering and Combating of Financing of Terrorism are properly investigated, prosecuted and tried with minimum delay. Also, more serious efforts should be made to remove socio-economic injustices, imbalances and inequities in the society, alleviate the suffering of the people, provide increased job opportunities and the right atmosphere for genuine business and investment to thrive.

Strategic Directions of Activities of the Intelligence and Security Agencies of the Western Balkans

The Western Balkans is geographically positioned on an important route between Asia and Europe, while the Balkan countries are mostly politically oriented towards the West, which is why it can be said that the entire Balkans has both a Euro-Atlantic and Eurasian position. As an interesting hub with a transit position, which has many advantages in terms of the flow of goods, services, people, capital and ideas, there are many threatening phenomena in the Balkans. The largest of them are organized crimes, cybercrime, terrorism, violent extremism, radicalism, sabotage, subversive activities, intelligence work and diversion. Contemporary global and regional security-political trends and dynamics of viral threatening phenomena require the specific organization of the intelligence-security sector. In addition to the imperative that the security-intelligence system has a strong normative and organizational basis, it is necessary to determine precise strategic directions, so that every activity of the security-intelligence capacities would be purposeful and goal-oriented. Strategic directions are the result of political and legal codification processes, which result from the need for continuous realization of political and security interests of the Western Balkan countries through the operation of the security and intelligence system. In order to achieve the goals defined by the strategic directions, it is necessary to permanently, continuously, coordinate and control the operation of the intelligence and security apparatus of the countries of the Western Balkans. The mentioned convergences in the basic principles do not exclude the existing divergences of the strategic orientations of the security-intelligence systems, which requires a detailed and comprehensive analysis.

Neural Network Training in an Automated Dispatcher Problem

The application of artificial intelligence in the development of а decision support system for the implementation of transport traffic is presented. Such systems are designed to adjust the schedule of objects in cases of unforeseen situations. A fully connected artificial neural network with several hidden layers, trained using a genetic algorithm, is used. During training, the functionality that characterizes the deviation from the specified schedule is minimized. Railway traffic is one of the most important types of transport in Russia. Every year it becomes more and more intense, the density and volume of both cargo and passenger traffic increases. As a result, the requirements for the exact execution of the planned traffic schedule increase, since any deviation leads to significant penalties due, for example, to an increase in train delays, their cancellation, etc. The work of a dispatcher, a person who controls railway traffic, is quite time-consuming and becomes more difficult every day, so the development of dispatcher assistance systems is one of the most relevant areas in control automation in this area. At the same time, the existing high requirements for traffic safety, which impose additional restrictions, finally lead to the fact that in this kind of system, the final decision is left to the person, and computer development has a recommendatory character. This article describes the artificial intelligence apparatus in the form of training neural networks using a genetic algorithm to build an automated dispatcher that corrects movement.

Files, Agents, “Deep State,” and Russian Influence: The Legacy of the Communist State Security Service in Bulgaria

How much influence did the former communist state security service Darzhavna sigurnost (DS) have during the transformation period in Bulgaria? For the first time in history, there is empirical data available that allow for an analysis of the role of the Bulgarian secret police and its “afterlife” after 1990. Bulgarian intelligence archives, which were made partly accessible following the country’s admission to the European Union in 2007, provide an excellent basis for an analysis of the relationship between the DS and the Soviet State Committee for Security, the transformation of the Bulgarian security apparatus in 1990, attempts to disclose the state security archives, and continuous infiltration of Bulgarian politics, institutions, and security apparatus by former agents of the communist intelligence and security apparatus. The empirical data suggest that personal connections, dependencies, and informal networks of former DS agents and officials played an important role during the transformation period in Bulgaria and are at least partly responsible for political corruption, continuous Russian influence, a high degree of politicization of the Bulgarian security apparatus, misuse of intelligence and illegal surveillance practices, and a high degree of domestic and international mistrust and (dis-)loyalty.

The activity of Japanese military intelligence against the USSR in 1922-1945

Japan's military intelligence has been continuously working around the world since 1871, and Russia has always remained one of its main goals. After the end of the intervention in 1922, the Japanese government took a course to normalize relations with our country, in connection with which the intelligence agencies of the empire monitored the activities of the Soviet leadership to strengthen the defense and economic potential of the state and the implementation of foreign policy objectives in the Far East, without conducting subversive actions. The USSR state security agencies managed to arrange the transfer of inflated data on the state of the Red Army to the Japanese military intelligence, as the central intelligence agency of the empire, therefore, in 1923-1931, Tokyo's military planning against our country was defensive in nature. After the capture of Manchuria in 1932, Japan faced the Soviet Union's buildup of its troops beyond Lake Baikal, regarding this fact as preparation for an invasion of Northeast China. Japanese intelligence intensified its activities to collect information about the intentions of the Soviet leadership and engaged in the organization of a sabotage apparatus in the event of a war with the USSR in 1937-1938, however, counter measures of the Soviet state security bodies hampered the work of the empire's special services in our country. After the defeat on the Khalkhin-Gol river (1939), the military-political leadership of Japan carried out a radical reorganization of the military intelligence agencies, strengthening their personnel and betting on the collection of information by technical means. Thanks to the information received from the foreign intelligence apparatus, the government of the Empire in the summer and autumn of 1941 came to the conclusion that it was inappropriate to attack the Soviet Union. The entry of the USSR into the war against militaristic Japan in 1945 drew a line under the activities of the empire's military intelligence and became a prologue to its transition to US control.

Agent and Operational Activities towards Evangelical Churches in the USSR in the 1920s — 1930s

This study focuses on the agent-operative activities of state security agencies with respect to religious organizations as one of the main instruments of combating religion in the Soviet Union. The sources analyzed in the article provide the basis for a number of important conclusions about the agent-operative activities of state security agencies with respect to Protestant Sects. Throughout the entire Soviet period of Russian history, the main target of recruitment was believers themselves, primarily members of denominational leadership. The possibility to obtain reliable information from them, as well as to exert indirect influence on religious organizations through them, primarily for their internal degradation and control, compensated the Chekists for the difficulties in recruiting sectarians and their unreliability as agents. However, despite all the advantages that a functioning agency and intelligence apparatus offered, intelligence activities were subject to sharp fluctuations, especially in the 1930s. The decline occurred mainly during periods when the state sought to eliminate religious organizations through administrative repression. At other times, agent-operative activities were an integral part of church-state relations.

Wywiad na Niemcy oczami kierownika Referatu „Zachód” Oddziału II Sztabu Głównego Wojska Polskiego 1932–1939

As part of the transition of the armed forces to a peaceful structure in the summer of 1921, the process of strict specialization of the information and intelligence apparatus concentrated in the Second Department of the General (Main) Staff of the Polish Army in two key operational directions: west and east began. This process was fully justified due to the conditions Poland faced at the time, and in order to maintain its recently regained independence it was absolutely essential to know the secrets of the USSR and the Third Reich.