UNITED KINGDOM

Post-Cold War

General

N - Z

Omand, David [Sir]. "Can We Have the Pleasure of the Grin without Seeing the Cat? Must the Effectiveness of Secret Agencies Inevitably Fade on Exposure to the Light?" Intelligence and National Security 23, no. 5 (Oct. 2008): 593-607.

Aberystwyth University Centre for Intelligence and International Security Studies Annual Lecture 2007: "[S]ecret intelligence and secret agency are still essential components of statecraft, not least in providing public protection, the first duty of any government. In particular, public support for and understanding of the value of the work of secret agencies is needed given the importance of pre-emptive intelligence in combating terrorism."

Phythian, Mark. "The British Experience with Intelligence Accountability." Intelligence and National Security 22, no. 1 (Feb. 2007): 75-99.

"Fundamentally. the ISC [Intelligence and Security Committee] was set up to serve the executive.... Members are accountable to the Prime Minister, and beyond this to themselves collectively and individually. There is no parliamentary accountability." [Italics in original] Establishment of the ISC in 1994 can "be seen as represent[ing] a first step on the road to accountability.... [T]he time is ripe for a further step."

Phythian, Mark. "Hutton and Scott: A Tale of Two Inquiries." Parliamentary Affairs 58, no. 1 (Jan. 2005): 124-137.

Phythian, Mark. "Intelligence, Policy-Making and the 7 July 2005 London Bombings." Crime, Law & Social Change 44, no. 4/5 (Dec. 2005): 361-385.

Phythian, Mark. "Still a Matter of Trust: Post-9/11 British Intelligence and Political Culture." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 18, no. 4 (Winter 2005-2006): 653-681.

"[I]n the light of the revelations at the Hutton and, particularly, Butler inquiries, little public confidence exists in [the intelligence services'] capacity to determine matters concerning individual liberty.... While 9/11 and the subsequent 'war on terror' seemed likely to remove the mistrust that has historically attached to the work of MI5 and MI6, the events of 2002-2004 served instead to confirm it as a key element of British political culture."

Rudner, Martin. "Britain Betwixt and Between: UK Sigint Alliance Strategy's Transatlantic and European Connections." Intelligence and National Security 19, no. 4 (Winter 2004): 571-609.

"As the UK Government's foreign intelligence requirements converge with the incipient policy thrust of European integration,...the greater will be the incentive for GCHQ to adapt to sharing arrangements with other EU partners, even at the expense of its historic alliance structure."

Runions, Bradley. "American and British Doctrine for Intelligence in Peace Operations." Peacekeeping and International Relations 24, no. 6 (Nov.-Dec. 1995): 14-15.

Ryan, Joseph F. "Review of the Canadian Security Intelligence Service: A Suitable Model for the United Kingdom?" Intelligence and National Security 5, no. 3 (Jul. 1990): 200-206.

The author sees Parliament's passage of the Security Service Bill in 1989 as "only the first round in the battle for independent review of the [British] Security Service." He suggests that "the continued success of the Canadian system of review will remain a potent symbol for those who advocate reform in the United Kingdom."

The author assesses some of the "challenges and opportunities for the study of intelligence in the United Kingdom and places them in historical context. It focuses on various aspects of intelligence organization and practice, specifically covert acion and central intelligence machinery. And finally it reflects on the extent to which recent events pose new challenges to the study and practice of British intelligence."

Segell, Glen M. "Reform and Transformation: The UK's Serious Organized Crime Agency." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 20, no. 2 (Summer 2007): 217-239.

The Serious Organized Crime Agency (SOCA) was created in 2006. It brings together the National Crime Squad, National Criminal Intelligence Service, and investigators from Customs and the Home Office's Immigration Service. The author uses SOCA's formation to argue that intelligence in the UK "is undergoing a process of reform and transformation."

Shpiro, Shlomo. Guarding the Guard: Parliamentary Control of the Intelligence Services in Germany and Britain. Sankt Augustin: Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung, 1997.

Tomkins, Adam. "Government Information and Parliament: Misleading by Design or Default?" Public Law (Autumn 1996): 472-489. [Calder]

Weller, Geoffrey R.

1. "Comparing Western Inspectors General of Intelligence and Security." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 9, no. 4 (Winter 1996-97): 383-406.

Statutory offices of Inspectors General (or similar entities in the case of the United Kingdom's offices of Security Service Commissioner and Intelligence Services Commissioner) have been created in the Western democracies over the past 15 years as part of an "overall increase in the degree of oversight accorded intelligence agencies.... The Inspectors General have generally built up good reputations for their largely well done ... work.... But ... the IGs have not always been able to anticipate problems and give early warning."

2. "The Internal Modernization of Western Intelligence Agencies." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 14, no. 3 (Fall 2001): 299-322.

The author surveys post-Cold War changes that have affected the internal workings of the civilian intelligence agencies of the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia. He touches on recruitment policies, increasing representativeness, personnel policies, management practices, and physical modernization.

West, Nigel. [Rupert Allason]

1. "Espionage After the Cold War: The British Perspective." World Intelligence Review 13, no. 2 (1994): 1, 3.

Stella Rimington, Director-General of the Security Service (MI5), in remarks in Dimbleby Lecture on BBC, 12 June 1994, said "there were still a growing number of Russian intelligence personnel based in London ... [and that] more than two-thirds of MI5's staff of two thousand is engaged in counterterrorism." West notes that "[h]ostile penetration ... remains a source of anxiety" and refers to the Michael Smith case. West points to other issues for the future -- cocaine cartels, state-sponsored terrorism, technology transfer, and keeping nuclear capability out of the hands of extremists.

2. "The UK's Not Quite So Secret Services." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 18, no. 1 (Spring 2005): 23-30.

This is a brief look at the unraveling of the secrecy cloak that for so long surrounded the British secret services. The conclusion: "Not very much is left secret about MI5, SIS, or GCHQ."

Return to UK Post-Cold War Table of Contents