HOMELAND SECURITY

Release Date: September 19, 2023

Copyright @ https://www.dhs.gov/news/2023/09/19/secretary-mayorkas-announces-establishment-homeland-intelligence-experts-group?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email

Experts Group to provide advice and perspectives on intelligence and national security efforts to the Office of Intelligence and Analysis and the Office of Counter-terrorism Coordinator to support DHS’ vital work to protect our country
WASHINGTON – Today, U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Alejandro N. Mayorkas, Under Secretary for Intelligence and Analysis (I&A) Ken Wainstein, and Counter-terrorism Coordinator Nicholas Rasmussen announced the establishment of the Homeland Intelligence Experts Group (Experts Group). The group is comprised of private sector experts who will provide their unique perspectives on the federal government’s intelligence enterprise to DHS’s I&A and the Office of the Counter-terrorism Coordinator....Read more

Guest: Prof. Joseph Fitsanakis In this episode of Rock Rachon
(TVP World News)

Copyright: https://tvpworld.com/ https://www.facebook.com/tvpworldcom
(Polish TVP World News)

We talk with intelligence and national security expert prof. Joseph Fitsanakis about the ongoing Qatargate scandal. The corruption scandal currently affecting the highest peaks of the European Union authorities has been, according to Prof. Fitsanakis revealed thanks to information obtained by the intelligence services possibly of a certain superpower. Is such sharing of intelligence information a way to fight the corruption raging in the EU? Bringing you all the latest daily news and updates, TVP World is Poland's first English-language channel where you can find world news as seen from the Polish perspective and the latest news from the CEE region. Read more on youtube:

A series of high-profile cases that have recently led to arrests and convictions shows that the threat posed by spies seems to have increased in Europe over the past decade.

Copyright @ 2023 https://www.foi.se/en/foi/news-and-pressroom/news/2022-05-16-threat-of-spies-is-increasing-in-europe.html (Swedish Defence Research Agency)

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS).

“In times of geopolitical tension, the activity of different countries’ intelligence organisations increases,” says Michael Jonsson, Deputy Research Director at FOI.
Together with analyst Jakob Gustafsson, Michael Jonsson has conducted the study, Espionage by Europeans 2010–2021, where they analyse openly known cases of infiltration or insider espionage. Of the 62 individuals involved, 42 were convicted of espionage during the studied period, something that Michael Jonsson himself describes as “the tip of an iceberg.”... Read more

Copyright: https://www.europol.europa.eu/newsroom/news/how-europol-keeping-online-spaces-safe (Europol, posted on 24 November 2021)

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

Terrorism is a constant threat to societies all over the world and terrorists’ use of the internet and social media has increased enormously in recent years. Jihadist groups, in particular, have demonstrated a sophisticated understanding of how social networks operate and have launched well-organised, concerted social media campaigns to recruit followers. These campaigns promote or glorify acts of terrorism and violent extremism and have led to viral online content in the past. Read more

John Siomkos
(Graduate Student at Webster University Athens & RIEAS Research Associate)

Copyright: @ 2021 Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 1 November 2021

Note: The article reflects the opinion of the author and not necessarily the views of the Research Institute for European and American Studies (RIEAS)

In March of 2020 the Covid-19 virus had rapidly spread throughout the world with hundreds of thousands new cases emerging daily and many of them losing their lives. Governments proceeded to shut down unnecessary businesses and putting on temporary hold non-essential operations as well as workers.
While by the last quarter of 2018 there was an upward trend in reported violent crimes which continued all throughout 2019 without having a serious impact on New Yorker’s daily lives, then 2020 arrived and the percentages skyrocketed with violent crimes leading the way.... Read more

Barry Zulauf
(He was the IC ombudsperson for analytic objectivity during 2018–2021. He recently joined Harvard University’s Belfer Center as a Recanati-Kaplan intelligence fellow)

Copyright: https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-65-no-3-september-2021-special-issue/from-a-former-odni-ombudsperson-perspective-safeguarding-objectivity-in-intelligence-analysis - Studies in Intelligence Vol. 65, No. 3 (Extracts, September 2021)

Objectivity in intelligence analysis is a core responsibility up and down the chain, one baked into the IRTPA legislation and detailed in DNI Intelligence Community directives. When intelligence judgments collide with policy preferences, maintaining objectivity depends on formal processes and, sometimes, personal courage. Analytic objectivity is a core ethic for intelligence professionals, something that analysts and managers of analysis are all expected to uphold. It is fundamental to the very idea of speaking truth to power. As DNI Avril Haines said earlier this year, “I want analysis that is not politicized or policy biased. . . . I want you to know that I’m not going to be in any way retaliating against you if you don’t tell me what I want to hear.” Read more