The International Security and Intelligence Programme

Academic Programme

Academic Programme

The Aims of the Programme

  • To promote a multidisciplinary understanding of concepts, issues, and debates regarding intelligence and national security issues.
  • To reflect on the meaning, value, and nature of intelligence and on the types of intelligence and their value as evidence and bases for action.
  • To encourage an understanding of the interactive processes of assessment and analysis.
  • To foster conscious critical reading and discussion of issues concerning information, intelligence, policy, and action.
  • To promote an understanding of scholarly activity in relation to the subject of intelligence.
  • To foster an understanding of intelligence skills and tools in predicting future developments.
  • To promote an understanding and application of a range of transferable intellectual and study skills – communication, listening, and teamwork.

Programme Tracks

The ISI programme consists of two tracks – Track I, Independent Supervised Research; Track II, Topics in International Security and Intelligence. Participants will take both Tracks and be assessed on their performance in Track I. 

Track I: Independent Supervised Research

As part of the application process applicants are asked to propose a research topic that poses a particular security or intelligence question. This will be explored and developed in ‘supervisions’.  Central to Cambridge teaching and learning, supervisions bring together up to six students under the guidance of an expert in their fields to conduct research-based work culminating in the production of an extended essay of 3,500 words. Each group meets for five 1.25-hour sessions which are supported by office hours.

The following are examples of recently chosen research areas:

  • Intelligence history / the U.S. and UK intelligence communities
  • Nuclear proliferation / CBRN issues
  • Human intelligence and tradecraft / intelligence in the military context
  • Cyber and information operations/ foreign influence / covert action
  • Regional security topics covering the Middle East, Africa, and Asia
  • Islamist and other extremist terrorism and violent non-state actors
  • Intelligence analysis, liaison, oversight, policymaking, and accountability / ethical dimensions
  • Russian and European security and intelligence issues
  • Security cooperation (especially in the Global South)

While we will endeavour to accommodate proposals that fall outside of these areas, we encourage all students to be guided in their choices by the topics outlined above. 

Supervision group allocations are made in the weeks leading up to the start of the programme once full fees have been paid.

Track II: Topics in International Security and Intelligence

The central themes of the Programme are explored through core lectures and seminars given by ISI faculty. Lectures are attended by all students who are also allocated to seminar groups of approximately 15 to explore these themes in greater depth.

Key themes include:

  • The role of intelligence and security agencies in the US and the UK
  • The 21st-century threat landscape in historical perspective
  • The intelligence cycle
  • Transparency, oversight, and competing claims of state secrecy
  • Information operations
  • Terrorism and conventional warfare
  • Topics in regional security
  • The security implications of digital revolutions

Intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination remain at the core of the intelligence cycle while counter-intelligence and covert action play more opaque but still vital roles at the heart of the nation-state and international alliances. Understanding what intelligence can achieve, and its limitations, will be key topics for analysis and discussion and will be further explored at the annual Conference.

Assessment and Credit

Contact time for the ISI programme is a least 50 hours. Students are expected to spend between 15 and 20 hours per week on associated research and writing.

Track I

All participants submit a 3,500 essay having completed Independent Supervised Research. This essay will be assessed and graded, and the grade will appear on their transcript.

Track II

Participants are not routinely assessed on their performance in Track II. However, students who are in full-time education can apply for formal assessment. Assessment will take the form of a written report on the 2026 Conference and an exam taken towards the end of the fourth week of the programme. Students opting for such an assessment must follow any application process required by their university and ensure that they discuss transferring credit with their academic advisors before the start of ISI. ISI will provide a transcript and syllabus to help students applying to receive credit and can be contacted by their registrar via email (isioperations@thecsi.org.uk) if further information is required. All applications for assessment in Track II must be made by 22nd June 2026.

Grading and Transcripts

All participants successfully completing the Programme will receive a transcript showing their grade expressed as a % and a letter (A – E) together with grading guidance notes.  Students currently enrolled in a BA degree course will be marked using the UK BA standard marking criteria; MA students will be marked using UK MA grading criteria. Students who are not in full-time education will be assessed in relation to their most recent degree.

ISI 2026 grades will be issued on Friday 4th September 2026.

Transcripts will be issued on Friday 18th September 2026.

Learning outcomes

  • Familiarity with key concepts in intelligence.
  • Understanding the variety of factors affecting the collection, processing, and use of information.
  •  An understanding of; human intelligence, counter-intelligence, signals intelligence, assessment and analysis and information operations.
  • An appreciation of intelligence as both a challenge to and a support for the international order.
  • An understanding of different approaches to intelligence in history and other forms of social science.
  • Knowledge and understanding of intelligence and security in relation to specific empirical cases.
  • Awareness of the problems of and possible solutions to issues of intelligence, war, and security.
  • To have contributed to and participated in co-learning and investigating and assessing the relevance and relationship of intelligence to future developments in policy and practice.
  • Development of career and employability skills.

ISI Syllabus

Introduction

The first lecture considers the historiography of intelligence and the development of intelligence studies as a distinct field of academic inquiry. Guidance will be given on research methods, interpretative approaches and analytical writing when exploring this exciting but challenging field.

Required readings (in advance) are:

Tony Paterson, ‘Germany to Spy on US for First Time since 1945 after ‘Double Agent’ Scandal,’ The Independent, 7 July 2014, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/germany-to-spy-on-us-for-first- time-since-1945-after-double-agent-scandal-9590645.html

Widget Finn, ‘Why Intelligence Studies are a Smart Career Move,’ iNews, 19 February 2014.

Christopher Andrew, ‘Intelligence, International Relations and ‘Under-theorisation’  pp.170-184 Intelligence & National Security, 19 February 2004,  https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0268452042000302949

Loch K. Johnson & Mark Pythian, ‘Intelligence and National Security at Thirty,’ Intelligence & National Security, 31:1, pp. 1-7. 2016. https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2016.1104011

Lecture 1

The U.S. approach to Intelligence.

Required readings (in advance) are:

David V. Gioe and Michael V. Hayden, ‘Trump is Breaking American Intelligence’, Foreign Affairs, 2 July 2025, https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/trump-breaking-american-intelligence

David V. Gioe, ‘The Shallow State: Trump 2.0 is Putting America’s Critical Intelligence Liaison Relationships in Jeopardy,’ The Insider, 23 April 2025, https://theins.ru/en/opinion/david-gioe/280811

David V. Gioe, ‘CIA Service and Sacrifice Will Continue, No Matter Who is Sitting in the White House,’ The Foreign Policy, 23 February 2017, https://foreignpolicy.com/2017/02/23/cia-service-and-sacrifice-will-continue-no-matter-who-is-sitting-in-the-white-house/

Federal Bureau of Investigation, Phoenix Electronic Communication FBI, Washington, DC (2001).

Central Intelligence Agency, President’s Daily Brief, 6 August 2001: Bin Laden Determined to Strike in US (CIA, Washington, DC, 2001 (declassified and approved for release on 10 April 2004]), https://www.911memorial.org/sites/default/files/inline-files/Bin%20Ladin%20Determined%20to%20Strike%20in%20US.pdf

Lecture 2

The British intelligence community has developed what can be seen as a specific, characteristic approach towards its work over time and in response to the changing nature of the threats it has encountered. Required readings (in advance) are:

Michael S. Goodman, ‘Creating the Machinery for Joint Intelligence: The Formative Years of the Joint Intelligence Committee, 1936-1956,’ International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, pp.66-84, 30 November 2016.

Lawrence J. Lamanna, ‘Documenting the Differences Between American and British Intelligence Reports,’ International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, pp.602-628, 20 August 2007.

Jack Davis, ‘The Kent-Kendall debate of 1949,’ National Archives Catalog, Summer 1991, https://catalog.archives.gov/id/7283329

‘A Strong Britain in an Age of Uncertainty: The National Security Strategy,’ gov.uk, October 2010, https://www.gov.uk/official-documents

Richard K. Betts, ‘Policy-makers and Intelligence Analysts: Love, Hate or Indifference?’ Intelligence and National Security, pp.184-189, 3 January 2008

Lecture 3

Intelligence sharing; exploring the nature and importance of and obstacles to liaison between specific intelligence agencies and between international communities.

Required readings (in advance) are:

Michael S. Goodman, ‘The Foundations of Anglo-American Intelligence Sharing,’ Studies in Intelligence, 59:2, pp. 1-12, June 2015.

Arthur S. Hulnick, ‘Intelligence Cooperation in the Post-Cold War Era: A New Game Plan?’, International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 5:4, pp. 455-465, 9 January 2008.

Patrick F. Walsh and Seumas Miller, ‘Rethinking ‘Five Eyes’; Security, Intelligence, Collection Policies and Practice Post Snowden,’ Intelligence and National Security, 31:3, pp. 345-368, 22 January 2015.

John Cary Sims, ‘The BRUSA Agreement of May 17, 1943’, Cryptologia, 21:1, pp. 30-38, 4 June 2010, https://doi.org/10.1080/0161-119791885742.

Lecture 4

A Cold War case study illuminates the potential and the drawbacks of humans as intelligence agents. The focus will be on intelligence collection, counter-intelligence and agent security – timeless tradecraft issues.

Required readings (in advance) are:

(To be skimmed or used for reference)

Espionage and Other Compromises of National Security: Case Summaries from 1975- 2008, Defense Personnel Security Research Center, November 2009, http://www.dhra.mil/perserec

John Sano, ‘Guide to the Study of Intelligence: The Changing Shape of HUMINT,’ Association of Former Intelligence Officers Intelligencer Journal, November 2014.

Joseph W. Wippl, ‘Qualities that Make a Great Case Officer,’ The International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence, 25:3, pp. 595-603, 13 June 2012.

Jason Matthews, ‘The Spy Who Turned Me,’ The Wall Street Journal, May 2013, https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324412604578513371283582676

Kate Brannen, ‘To Catch a Spy,’ Foreign Policy, 6 April 2015, https://foreignpolicy.com/2015/04/06/to-catch-a-spy-biometrics-cia-border-security/

Lecture 5

Classic examples of surprise attack including the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968 and the Argentine invasion of the Falkland Islands in 1982 will be analysed to  identify some of the general lessons that emerge from them, particularly whether there are ways to remedy the failures apparently inherent in intelligence work.

Required readings (in advance) are:

James J. Wirtz, ‘Indications and Warning in an Age of Uncertainty,’ International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 26:3, pp. 550-562. 20 May 2013, https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2013.780558

Michael I. Handel, ‘Intelligence and the Problem of Strategic Surprise,’ Journal of Strategic Studies, 7:3, pp. 229-281. 24 January 2008, https://doi.org/10.1080/01402398408437190

Mark A. Jensen, ‘Intelligence Failures: What Are They Really and What Do We Do About Them?’ Intelligence and National Security, 27:2, pp. 261-282. 27 April 2012, https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2012.661646

Michael S. Goodman, ‘The Dog That Didn’t Bark: The Joint Intelligence Committee and Warning of Aggression,’ Cold War History, 7:4, pp. 529-55, 1 November 2007, https://doi.org/10.1080/14682740701621739

Richard K. Betts, ‘Analysis, War and Decision: Why Intelligence Failures Are Inevitable,’ World Politics, 31:1, pp. 61-89. October 1978, https://doi.org/10.2307/2009967

Lecture 6

How HUMINT can adapt (or be adapted) to the digital/cyber age? Seminars will focus on 9/11 and intelligence failure through an exercise using primary sources.

Malcolm Gladwell, ‘Connecting the Dots,’ The New Yorker, 2 March 2003, https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2003/03/10/connecting-the-dots

David V. Gioe and Tony Manganello, ‘Smart New World: Adapting human intelligence for the digital age’, Intelligence and National Security’ (2025), https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02684527.2025.2565946

David V. Gioe, ‘The More Things Change: HUMINT in the Cyber Age,’ R. Dover et al. (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Security, Risk and Intelligence, pp. 211-225. Routledge, London 2017.

Skim two primary source documents: The FBI EC from Phoenix and the CIA PDB from 6 August 2001 (see Lecture 1).

‘Ubiquitous Technical Surveillance Had Made Spying More Difficult,’ The Economist, 1 July 2024, https://www.economist.com/technology-quarterly/2024/07/01/ubiquitous-technical-surveillance-has-made-spying-more-difficult.

David Ignatius, ‘A Band of Innovators Reimagines the Spy Game for a World With No Cover,’ Washington Post, 10 July 2025.

Lecture 7

This session will look at issues related to ethics and accountability and will consider how  questions of morality and legality might be balanced. It will also look at the evolution of different national approaches to oversight and accountability.

Required readings (in advance) are:

Michael M. Andregg and Peter Gill, ‘Comparing the Democratization of Intelligence,’ Intelligence and National Security, 29:4, pp. 487-497. 10 July 2014.

Jennifer Kibble, ‘Congressional Oversight of Intelligence: Is the Solution Part of the Problem?’ Intelligence and National Security, 25:1, pp. 24-49. 10 March 2010.

Ian Leigh, ‘Rebalancing Rights and National Security: Reforming UK Intelligence Oversight a Decade after 9/11,’ Intelligence and National Security, 27:5, pp. 722-738. 5 October 2012.

Claudia Hillerbrand, ‘The Role of New Media in Intelligence Oversight,’ Intelligence and National Security, 27:5, pp. 689-706. 5 October 2012.

Lecture 8

Is Assassination a form of covert action? A form of political theatre? Who is the audience? Who is the messenger? Is it an oxymoron to have a deniable political assassination?

Required readings:

David V. Gioe, Michael S. Goodman & David S. Frey, ‘Unforgiven: Russian Intelligence Vengeance as Political Theater and Strategic Messaging,’ Intelligence and National Security, 34:4, pp. 561-575. 7 February 2019.

Adrian Hanni and Miguel Grossman, ‘Death to Traitors? The Pursuit of Intelligence Defectors from the Soviet Union to the Putin Era,’ Intelligence and National Security, 35:3, pp. 403-423. 18 February 2020.

Rory Cormac and Richard J. Aldrich, ‘Grey is the New Black: Covert Action and Implausible Deniability,’ International Affairs, 94:3 (2018), pp. 477-494. 1 May 2018.

Nicholas Schmidle, ‘Getting Bin Laden,’ The New Yorker, 1 August 2011.

Specialist Faculty Lectures

Dr. Daniela Richterova; Moscow’s Sabotage Doctrine: Past and Present

Dr. Nicola Leveringhaus; How do we know what we think we know about Chinese nuclear weapons?

Dr. Thomas J. Maguire; Disclosure: how and why governments communicate intelligence to influence others.

Dr. Renad Mansour; Where is the “State” in the Middle East?

Louise Marie Hurel; The Company-States: Contested Private Authority in Cybersecurity

Recommended Reading; Intelligence Studies

The following provide excellent introductions to the field of Intelligence Studies.

General Introductions and Core Texts

  • Rob Dover, Michael S. Goodman, and Claudia Hillebrand (eds.), The Routledge Companion to Intelligence Studies (Routledge, 2013) – An excellent starting point, with chapters covering the intelligence cycle, key debates, and comparative systems.

  • Rob Dover, Huw Dylan, and Michael S. Goodman (eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Security, Risk and Intelligence (Palgrave, 2017).
  • Loch K. Johnson, Handbook of Intelligence Studies (Routledge, 2009).
  • Loch K. Johnson (ed.), The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence (OUP, 2010) – A highly useful and wide-ranging collection of essays, available in hard copy and as an eBook via the library.
  • Mark M. Lowenthal, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy (6th ed., CQ Press, 2016 – earlier editions are also suitable).
  • Michael Herman, Intelligence Power in Peace and War (Routledge, 1996) – A foundational text for understanding intelligence from a theoretical and institutional perspective.
  • Michael Herman & David Schaefer, Intelligence Power in Practice (Edinburgh University Press, 2023).
  • Robert Dover, Huw Dylan & Michael S. Goodman (eds.), A Research Agenda for Intelligence Studies and Government (Edward Elgar Publishing, 2022).

Historical Perspectives

  • Christopher Andrew, Richard J. Aldrich, and Wesley K. Wark (eds.), Secret Intelligence: A Reader (Routledge, 2009) – Also published as a 2008 edition; both versions offer a comprehensive collection of foundational documents and commentary.

  • Richard J. Aldrich, Rory Cormac, and Michael S. Goodman, Spying on the World: The Declassified Documents of the Joint Intelligence Committee, 1936–2013 (Edinburgh University Press, 2014).
  • David Omand, Securing the State (Penguin, 2010 & 2012) – Informed by a long career in public service, this volume offers a practitioner’s insight into modern intelligence and national security.
  • Richard K. Betts, Enemies of Intelligence: Knowledge and Power in American National Security (Columbia University Press, 2007).
  • Abram Shulsky & Gary J. Schmitt, Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence (3rd, Potomac Books, 2002 – earlier editions are also useful).
  • Betts, R. and Mahnken, T.G. (eds.), Paradoxes of Strategic Intelligence (Routledge, 2003) – Addresses strategic dilemmas relevant to intelligence assessment and policymaking.
  • Len Scott and Peter Jackson (eds.), Understanding Intelligence in the Twenty-First Century (Routledge, 2004).

Contemporary Issues and Emerging Fields

  • Calder Walton, Spies: The Epic Intelligence War Between East and West (Abacus, 2023).

  • Amy Zegart, Spies, Lies, and Algorithms: The History and Future of American Intelligence (Princeton University Press, 2022).
  • Jennifer E. Simms, Decision Advantage: Intelligence in International Politics from the Spanish Armada to Cyberwar (Oxford University Press, 2022).
  • Herbert Lin & Amy B. Zegart (eds.), Bytes, Bombs, and Spies: The Strategic Dimensions of Offensive Cyber Operations (Brookings Institution Press, 2018).
  • Kerry Patton, Sociocultural Intelligence: A New Discipline in Intelligence Studies (Continuum, 2010).

Specialised Topics and Case Studies

  • Peter Gill & Mark Phythian, Intelligence in an Insecure World: Surveillance, Spies and Snouts (Polity, 2006 – multiple editions).

  • James I. Walsh & Lawrence Freedman, The International Politics of Intelligence Sharing (Columbia University Press, 2010).
  • Thomas L. Ahern, Vietnam Declassified: The CIA and Counterinsurgency (University Press of Kentucky, 2009).
  • Huw Dylan & Thomas Maguire, ‘Secret Intelligence and Public Diplomacy in the Ukraine War’, Survival, Vol. 64, No. 4 (2022), pp. 33–74.
  • Daniela Richterova, Watching the Jackals: Prague’s Covert Liaisons with Cold War Terrorists and Revolutionaries, foreword by Christopher Andrews (Georgetown University Press, 2025).

Study Skills

  • The Research Process: A Short Guide for Undergraduate Students – A brief but helpful guide to academic research and writing.

Suggested Online Resources and Media