Rory Cormac@RoryCormac

Professor: Secrecy; Subversion; Covert Actions | Author: Disrupt&Deny; How to Stage a Coup; Secret Royals | views own

 “bothering archives” (FT)
Joined July 2012
1,266 Photos and videos
Paperbacks!! @thetimes: “rich in anecdote & detail…A zippy read” @IAJournal_CH: “an important public service…truly timeless” @CIA Studies in Intell: “Valuable & thought provoking” @IntelNatSecJnl: “A must read” @diplocourier: “delightfully incisive” @YahooNews: “dazzling”
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Rory Cormac retweeted
James Rogers@james_rogers
18 Dec 2024
This fascinating take from @RoryCormac for #BritainsWorld deserves a read from those interested in UK foreign policy. He explains why a new version of the @FCDOGovUK Information Research Department is now needed... britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-m…

In defence of the Information Research Department

The Memorandum | No. 25.2024

britainsworld.org.uk
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A deliberately provocative and slightly contrarian take in defence of the Information Research Department and unattributable propaganda 👇
James Rogers@james_rogers
18 Dec 2024
This fascinating take from @RoryCormac for #BritainsWorld deserves a read from those interested in UK foreign policy. He explains why a new version of the @FCDOGovUK Information Research Department is now needed... britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-m…
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this is excellent. do keep your eyes open for it...
Dr. Dan Lomas@Sandbagger_01
9 Dec 2024
⁉️ How are @ChiefMI6's picked, and how has the process changed over time? 👀 Article on past selection processes and the role of the FO/FCO accepted for @diplostatecraft. Coming soon.
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As I near the end of writing a new history of the Information Research Department - it's surprisingly sympathetic, watch this space - I would have answered "Yes. The UK does need a new IRD (or something similar, reimagined for the twenty-first century)." britainsworld.org.uk/p/the-b…

Does the Foreign Office need a new Information Research Department?

The Big Ask | No. 23.2024

britainsworld.org.uk
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and for those interested in the book, I should warn that it has 3 pages on the IRD's makeshift bar which bailiffs threatened to remove; a chapter on hippies and sexually transmitted diseases; ghosts and (literal) echo chambers; and even a wife swap... ... all the important stuff
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Love this. London to propagandist: “How clever of you to include poetry by Dylan Thomas” in your covert propaganda Propagandist: “I wrote the poetry not Dylan Thomas”
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you know you're in the weeds of archival research when going through files like these The "Riverwalk House Luncheon Club" could be one of those quirkily titled crime novels... although the truth is more of a farce
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Involving an empty restaurant, a makeshift bar, bailiffs, and a dodgy loan… and even propagandists running the cash register Riverwalk House was the hq of the Foreign Office's unattributable propaganda dept There’s definitely a novel in there!!
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Oh it gets better… some bureaucrat told the gang to take down their illegal bar - made out of trestle tables and pigeonhole shelves - the day before George Brown, the foreign secretary (who enjoyed a drink), was due to tour the office and visit the illegal bar!!
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clearly not that secret a visit... msn.com/en-ca/news/world/pri…
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📺 "If you want James Bond, go to your library". Thanks to @EngelsbergIdeas for letting me write on the best spy show - The Sandbaggers. I also look at why the series is significant for real-life depictions of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6). 🔗engelsbergideas.com/notebook…
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We are happy to announce that ISI 2025 summer programme applications are now open! Follow the link below to apply:👇 thecsi.org.uk/isi-applicatio… To find out more about the programme, please visit: thecsi.org.uk/international-… #ISI2025 #Intelligence #security

ISI 2027 Application Form - The Cambridge Security Initiative

thecsi.org.uk
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i will never not find it weird that we have to go to US archives to get material on British history. details of British intell assessments on Ghana: national archives? nope - classified US - yep!
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pleasure to review @LenMaschmeyer's outstanding new book, Subversion, in @IAJournal_CH check it out 👇 academic.oup.com/ia/article-…

Subversion: from covert operations to cyber conflict

Fears of cyberwar might be less hyped than they once were, but plenty of newspaper headlines still scream that cyber capabilities have revolutionized state

academic.oup.com
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📢@NottsPolitics is inviting expressions of interest for the @LeverhulmeTrust Early Career Fellowship Scheme. The scheme provides support for early career scholars with a research record but who have not yet held a F/T permanent academic post Info here➡️tinyurl.com/mryh2y5d
Poster for Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Scheme - Expressions of interest invited - visit nottingham.ac.uk/politics/news for more information

ALT Poster for Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship Scheme - Expressions of interest invited - visit nottingham.ac.uk/politics/news for more information
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Has anyone else ever been blocked by the @TheWilsonCenter international history digital archive? I searched "Percy Allen" and that was suspicious enough to "trigger a security solution" apparently. It's such a vital resource. Help!
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write in the intro to a trade book you want to submit to the REF is haaaaaard. "this is a super exciting pagerturner untold story.... now who wants to pause to hear about my rigorous method?"
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qualitative prosopography anyone?
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my pedagogical "innovation" this year is to go full circle and ditch the stale reliance on powerpoints. I have a two hour lecture later with just 8 slides... and now I'm doubting myself... this could be a car crash 🫣
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Honest assessment: More title slides would have helped, simply to provide more obvious structure/signposting. But, writing definitions etc on a whiteboard rather than them popping up on screen felt really liberating and much less one-directional. Students seemed more engaged.
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