Copyright: Research Institute for European and American Studies (www.rieas.gr) Publication date: 10 April 2018

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

With escalating tensions in the Aegean, and mounting Turkish provocations aiming to create an “accident,” or a Gleiwitz incident, in the Archipelago or along the Greek-Turkish land frontier, as a pretext for war, RIEAS inaugurates today the TURKEY MONITOR WEEKLY NEWSLETTER.

The newsletter offers a collection of online news and resources on Turkey’s rapidly expanding combative politics of challenging the West, threatening Greece and Cyprus, cozying up to Russia, invading Syria, threatening Iraq, demonizing Israel, befriending Iran, and giving open support to radical Islamism....Read more

The topic of the June 2018 Volume of the Journal of Mediterranean and Balkan Intelligence (JMBI) is “International Relations and Intelligence Studies: a much-needed dialogue.” This issue will address a vital theme that the literature has neglected, despite a sustained call for theorization from various scholars (Fry & Hochstein, 1993; Andrew, 2004; Svendsen, 2009; Konstantopoulos, 2015) – setting-up a framework to approach the interaction between International Relations (IR) and Intelligence Studies (IS). Read more

EUROPEAN APPROACHES TO CURRENT INTERNATIONAL THEMES
AND METHODS IN INTELLIGENCE EDUCATION

11 – 14 September 2018

University of Leicester

College Court Conference Centre

Intelligence Pedagogy and Contemporary Challenges

The University of Leicester will host the IAFIE Europe Chapter 2018 Conference in Leicester from 11th to 14th September 2018 at its conference facility at College Court. Building on the success of the first two IAFIE Europe Chapter conferences we aim to continue exploring European approaches to current international themes and methods in intelligence education. We also aim to continue the mission of the Association to improve intelligence education by providing an opportunity for intelligence scholars to network with each other, encouraging interdisciplinary research and teaching, and developing links between academia, government, and the private sector. This year we particularly welcome papers that address the conference theme of “Intelligence Pedagogy and Contemporary Challenges”, Read more

John M. Nomikos and A. Th. Symeonides
(Authors)

Copyright: International Journal of Intelligence and Counter-Intelligence, 31: 1–17, 2018
Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, USA.

The tortuous history of the Balkans as a hotbed of repeated crises has been told enough times to defeat the necessity of repeating it here in any detail. Our approach, therefore, is to try to analyze the current resurgence of potential Balkan war against the backdrop of recent and more distant political and conflict history -- and briefly answer some questions, such as the following, which may give the impetus for developing a rational, accurate and, above all, predictive Balkan political intelligence scheme for today: (a) What makes Western views of Balkan disorder historically “special” as Westerners try to comprehend the causes of irresolvable cyclical instability and violence in the “soft underbelly of Europe?” (b) Why the Europeans continue to fail so miserably to address the Balkan crisis in their own back yard? (c) And why today’s Balkans won’t fit the tested models of crisis management familiar to Western intelligence analysts and strategical specialists? (Forthcoming in 2018)

Jan Ballast (MA)
(Senior staff member, involved with foreign intelligence, mission support and national security, working for the Ministry of Defence of The Netherlands. He has held numerous analytical and operational positions in both The Hague and missions abroad).

Copyright: http://www.ndc.nato.int - Research Division –NATO Defense College, Rome, Italy, No. 140, September 2017.

Since its establishment, NATO and Intelligence have been ‘a contradiction in terms’, as a CIA researcher coined it in 1984. Different languages, cultures, capabilities and infrastructures proved to be structural constraints. To make things worse, issues like lack of a common threat perception, differing national interests, and political distrust prevented NATO’s national services from sharing with the Alliance as a whole. Recent military missions in North Africa and the Middle East have underlined NATO’s problematic intelligence-sharing apparatus and, besides calls for synchronizing the flow of strategic and operational information, the need for coordinating the many different and inefficient intelligence structures of the Alliance has become apparent. We hope you enjoy this paper that provides a glimpse into bureaucratic politics and Alliance intelligence operations. - Jeffrey A. Larsen, PhD, Director Research Division--....  Read more

The topic of the next issue (December 2017) of the Journal of Mediterranean and Balkan Intelligence (JMBI) is “Cross-domain approaches to intelligence analysis.” This issue will address new insights on intelligence analysis by bringing together multi-sector practitioners. This special issue aims to publish empirical and review/synthesis papers in relation to intelligence analyses’ new challenges, needs and tools. Perspectives from the academic, government and private sectors that address practical and theoretical issues regarding the analytical process are expected to provide a collective volume aimed at identifying common grounds for a cross-domain collaborative debate. Read more

In 2013, RIEAS has founded the Journal of Mediterranean and Balkan Intelligence (JMBI). The ninth issue (June 2017) focuses on “The Intelligence – Law Enforcement Nexus in the Current Global Security Environment: Lessons Learned and Best/Worst Practices.” Read more

Research Institute for European and American Studies
Newsletter on Immigration to Greece
Editor: Ioannis Kolovos

Greeks’ views towards immigrants remain negative
According to an opinion poll conducted for think-tank “Dianeosis”, 49% of Greeks view immi-grants negatively, 88.3% of Greeks consider that there are “too many” immigrants in the country, 64.4% think that immigrants contribute to increased criminality and 58% that they increase unemployment.

The relevant article (Kathimerini, 5/3/2017) can be read in full here (in Greek only)

Greek population shrunk
Low birth-rate and outward migration due to the economic crisis have resulted in the shrinking of the population of Greeks by almost 200,000 since 2011.

The relevant analysis (Efimerida ton Syntakton, 8/3/2017) can be read in full here (in Greek only)