Our Right to be Safe Trumps Press Right to Free Speech

Several media companies in the UK are eagerly awaiting the outcome of the appeal of the decision to keep them out of the courtroom in which two suspected terrorists will face trial. Anthony Glees is a professor of Politics at the University of Buckingham and directs its Centre for Security and Intelligence Studies (BUCSIS). He argues that camera access to trials should be restricted when the cases deal with national security issue

Europe’s response to the NSA spying scandal has been a substantial overreaction

Allegations surrounding the activities of the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) have provoked controversy in several European countries. Anthony Glees argues that the European response to the scandal has been largely overstated, in part because it overlooks the existing limits within which intelligence agencies operate. He writes that good intelligence gathering has generally produced positive effects in western countries, and that the most damaging actions have been conducted by those responsible for publishing the allegations

9/11: an intelligence failure and its consequences

On the tenth anniversary of September 11, Professor Anthony Glees reflects on the intelligence failures and their consequences that led to 9/11

The Current Challenges to UK National Security and How They Might be Addressed

This article offers a qualitative assessment of the current major security challenges facing the UK, as of the first half of 2017. It argues that to address their increased number, the UK’s intelligence-led security community must not only be expanded in terms of size but also of reach. It should seek to generate better actionable intelligence, chiefly but not exclusively from electronic sources, and exploit it more effectively. Intelligence should also be deployed to assist in preventing young British Muslims from being drawn into terrorism. Whilst recognising that good intelligence by itself cannot deliver total security, itself an unrealisable aim, and that many other measures are needed to keep any country as safe as possible, the article concludes that intelligence, and intelligence-led security activity is the best single means of keeping democracies as safe as possible from terrorism whether it is of the Islamist or any other variet

Intelligence Studies, Universities and Security

This article offers a critical assessment of academic intelligence studies in higher education. It argues that universities (and academics) should value this subject far more highly than they currently do. Doing so will enhance better public understanding of an increasingly important and unique device in modern governance. It will also improve the quality of intelligence activity by raising awareness of both good and bad practice, encourage lawfulness by means of public understanding and so defending a vital public service from ill-informed attacks in today’s conflicted world. This, rather than training potential officers, should be the primary purpose of intelligence studies

The SPD, the Labour Party and the Foreign Office

After Hitler invaded France in 1940, the leadership of the German Social Democratic party, the SPD, decided to accept an official invitation from the British Labour party and come to England. In 1941 London became the recognised seat of the Executive, where there was also a rank and file membership. At first the SPD leaders were given considerable moral and financial support and they believed they would be able to aid the Allied war effort and influence British thinking on Germany. They also applied themselves to the construction of new policies to ensure the survival of the party and to enable it to direct German affairs if and when Hitler had been defeated. By 1942, however, the SPD's work was not meeting with success. The Labour party began to adopt a hostile attitude towards it and, in marked contrast to its earlier practice, the Foreign Office no longer collaborated with German political exiles. The final challenge to the SPD came in 1943 from the German Communists who wished to create a unified Socialist party after Hitler. Faced with political extinction in London, the SPD nevertheless managed to survive. Although it was seriously weakened by 1945, it was strong enough to offer the young Federal Republic loyal support. The failure to cooperate successfully with British authorities during its exile, however, created many difficulties for post-war European Social Democracy. A number of problems are explored in this thesis. They include the wisdom of both Foreign Office and Labour party policy towards the SPD and the people of Germany during the Second World War. Serious confusion was caused by first maintaining and then abandoning the distinction between Nazis and Germans. The nature of exile as a specific form of political activity is also examined especially in the light of the determination of the exiled leaders to return to Germany and achieve power there. Finally, some wider conclusions are drawn about the SPD, its survival in the War and its historical continuity.</p