Chalk Marks: A Review of The Sympathizer
ENTERTAINMENT — “I am a spy, a sleeper, a spook, a man of two faces.” This opening sentence of Viet Thanh Nguyen’s novel The Sympathizer […] More
Espionage
Why ‘Ronin’ is an Espionage Classic
CHALK MARKS / COLUMN — If you craft a list of professionals who by virtue of their job knowingly undertake an effort they expect to […] More
E-Commerce Lessons for Espionage
OPINION — I recently enjoyed an overdue reunion with some college friends, wrongly assuming war stories from this retired CIA officer would wow my pals […] More
Why the Classic Movie ‘Spy Game’ Gets it Right
OPINION — Many moons ago, when I started my training as an operations officer, the world and country were in a different place. Everyone I […] More
The Latest
Gen Z and CIA is a Relationship in Need of Counseling
OPINION — As a mere “wretched pensioner” in retirement (words taken from my good friend and former CIA colleague Doug Wise), I spend a great […] More
‘Lioness’ is Entertaining. Is it Realistic?
OPINION — It’s been true for a long time that female intelligence professionals have been giving the CIA and the United States a tremendous advantage […] More
An Entertaining Mission (if you choose to accept it)
OPINION — One of the best things about being a retired CIA ops officer is now that people know I was a “spy,” I am […] More
Defending Against State-Sponsored Espionage Targeting the U.S. Private Sector is a Team Effort
OPINION — Last year, Congress spent 52 billion dollars on the CHIPS Act to advance the semiconductor industry in the United States because semiconductors are […] More
The Government has an Espionage Problem. Open Source should be part of the Solution.
OPINION — The unauthorized release of classified information and the subsequent arrest of Jack Teixeira has raised important questions. Why does the Air National Guard […] More
Russia’s State-Sponsored Hostage Taking Reaps Rewards for the Kremlin
OPINION – Russia’s arrest of Wall Street Journal journalist and US citizen, Evan Gershkovich, on espionage charges is the latest example of the Russian Federal […] More
The Unraveling of Russian Spies
OPINION — Last Thursday, Russian President Vladimir Putin congratulated the illegal intelligence department [Division S] of his Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) on its 100th anniversary in […] More
The Spies Sent Back to the Cold
EXPERT ANALYSIS — Since Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine began, Europe has embarked on a purge of Russian spies that has been described as “the largest mass […] More
Soviet Espionage Under the Cover of Diplomacy
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — Immediately after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last month, the US government expelled 13 Russian diplomats working at the United Nations. It did […] More
The Value of a Well-Placed Spy in Moscow
EXPERT PERSPECTIVE — I hope CIA has an agent like Dmitry Polyakov operating in Moscow right now. A Major General in Soviet Military Intelligence (the […] More
Havana and the Global Hunt for U.S. Officers
EXPERT OPINION — More than 200 U.S. officers have been hunted around the globe and targeted by an adversary using a mysterious weapon that causes […] More
The Challenges of Fourth Generation Espionage
Val LeTellier is a veteran intelligence officer. Before his career as a CIA case officer, he served as a State Department Diplomatic Security Special Agent. […] More
What the Wirecard Scandal Tells us about Russian Intel Operations
Sonya Seunghye Lim is a former Chief of Station with the Central Intelligence Agency. Before retiring from the CIA’s Senior Intelligence Service, she had a […] More
Inside the Bureau of Intelligence and Research
The U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research, better known as INR, is charged with providing intelligence products in support of U.S. diplomatic efforts around […] More
The Russians Have Issued a Wake Up Call
Weeks after a massive cyber breach of U.S. government agencies and private sector companies was publicly announced, there is still not a clear response from […] More