Intelligence Project

Over the past decade, ‘deepfakes’ have increased in prevalence across the media landscape and social platforms. Individuals, non-state actors, and organizations utilize technology in coordinated efforts to influence specific events, policies, and even market conditions. Furthermore, these dynamics have not been limited to governments or large organizations. The proliferation of technology and capabilities have empowered individuals and smaller groups with tools traditionally reserved for large actors, leading to equally disruptive outcomes.

What is real? What is manipulated? How do democracies safeguard against misinformation or disinformation campaigns? How do we as individuals navigate this challenging information environment? Please join The Intelligence Project and a distinguished panel of experts as we grapple with these questions and others to better understand deepfakes across society. This virtual event will be moderated by Michael Miner, Acting Manager of the Intelligence Project, and will take place via Zoom on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, from 12:15pm ET to 1:3opm ET.

This virtual event is on the record and is open to the public. Registration is required. Please register using the RSVP button below.

One year on from Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, there have been significant consequences for Eastern Europe and global security. Shifting military, political, social, and economic drivers have re-shaped geopolitics. As we unpack the past to better understand the present and future, please join the Belfer Center’s Intelligence Project and Russia Matters Project for a half-day virtual conference on Wednesday, February 15, 2023, from 12:30PM ET to 3:45PM ET via Zoom. Practitioners and scholars will examine these issues in detail and provide an assessment with an aim to look ahead into 2023 and beyond. 

This virtual event is on the record and is open to the public. Registration is required. Please register using the RSVP button below.

Applications for the Spring 2023 Intelligence Study Group are now live. The Intelligence Study Group is designed for Harvard students considering careers in government or the private sector as well as those interested in a broad introduction to intelligence. Participation is limited to 40 students determined by application. The study group is open to all Harvard students, faculty, fellows, and staff.  We will meet on Thursday afternoons from 4:30PM to 6:00PM beginning February 9 through April 27, 2023. The application will remain open until February 1 with initial decisions shortly thereafter. To apply, please fill out the application and we will contact you as space allows.

2022 has been a year of momentous geopolitical change. The Russian invasion of Ukraine, aftershocks of the Covid-19 pandemic, civilian protests in Iran, and steeply rising risks around Taiwan have combined to create a sense of global danger unprecedented since end of the Cold War. What new surprises and challenges might arise in 2023, and how might continue current issues evolve in unexpected ways?

Please join the Intelligence Project on Wednesday, December 7^th for a conversation with Senior Fellow Beth Sanner, former Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Mission Integration and the President's former intelligence briefer, to examine the issues that may consume policymaker attention in 2023.

This virtual event is on the record and is open to the public. Paul Kolbe, Intelligence Project Director, will moderate this session. Registration is required. Please register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3rHdflMISDWMUund_ziczA

The war in Ukraine was a wake-up call for many in revealing the ability of non-state actors such as Bellingcat to glean immensely valuable security information from entirely open source data. This phenomenon is not new, but has been insufficiently explored. Many private sector firms are effectively leveraging the wealth of open source and commercially-available data to answer questions that have vast ramifications for national security. What is possible in this world of open source information, and how can governments - and specifically intelligence communities - leverage this new capability that resides outside of the government domain?

Join the Intelligence Project for a session in which we will hear from experienced private sector professionals from Altana AI, 3AI, C4ADS, Zero Trafficking, Public Democracy, and Faculty AI, each speaking to a national security-level issue they have addressed with the right open source or commercial data and the right analytical approach. The session will be led by Belfer Fellow Kristin Wood, former CIA officer and current CEO of Grist Mill Exchange, and facilitated by Intelligence Project Manager Maria Robson-Morrow. The session is online and open to the public. Registration is required.

Interested in a future career in intelligence? Curious about what it's like to work at the cross-section of various government agencies, the public sector, and the private/non-profit sector? Join the Intelligence Project and hear from former and current US intelligence practitioners in this session for Harvard students. They will be speaking about their experiences in the field, what to expect when entering the Intelligence Community workforce, and how to break in. Students are welcome to ask questions.

This in-person session will take place on Tuesday, October 25th in One Brattle Square, Room 401 at 5:30PM. Registration for the event is limited to the first 45 registrations and is now closed. Food will be provided.

War in Ukraine has brought drone warfare to a new level and shown that unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are now as much a part of warfare as rifles and artillery. Russia is now using Iranian-made suicide drones to attack Ukrainian cities and infrastructure, while Ukraine has made extensive use of drones for reconnaissance and to deliver munitions on Russian armor. From commercial drones that cost a few hundred dollars to highly specialized and versatile vehicles such as the Turkish Bayrakters, drones are changing the face of combat. They are also increasingly available to non-state actors, a trend reflected by the recent arrest in Norway of a Russia citizen suspected of using drones to reconnoiter offshore gas platforms and energy infrastructure. Given the rapid development of capabilities, steadily dropping cost, and wide proliferation, it is all but certain that drones will be used in all future conflicts and will be leveraged by non-state actors.

Join the Intelligence Project for a timely discussion on drone use and drone defense with Bernard Hudson, fomer CIA Counterterrorism Center Chief, former Belfer Center Fellow, and current CEO of LookingGlass, a drone defense and software firm. The event will be moderated by Intelligence Project Director Paul Kolbe.

This hybrid event is on the record and will be open to Harvard Kennedy School faculty, students, fellows, and staff in person, and to the public over Zoom. Registration is required. Refreshments will be available for in-person attendees.

The Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962 continues to stand as the single most dangerous event of the nuclear age, when the world came closer than ever before or since to the prospect of nuclear annihilation. Scholars and analysts continue to revisit the CMC to learn its lessons in order to avoid nuclear dangers in the future. A number of recent accounts have shed new light on the various aspects of and incidents within the CMC, providing us with a better understanding of the dynamics of the crisis. As the world marks 60 years since those fateful events, the risk of nuclear conflagration is once again on the rise. Russia, a major nuclear power, is waging a war against Ukraine, a state supported by the United States and NATO, a nuclear-armed alliance. What were the most dangerous moments of the CMC? What contributed to and what ameliorated the risks of a nuclear conflagration? What can we learn from the CMC that is pertinent for preventing a conventional war in Ukraine from crossing the nuclear threshold? MTA brings together historians and political scientists to discuss the state of the art of history and politics of the Cuban Missile Crisis and gauge its relevance for the war in Ukraine and for future crises and conflicts. 

In-person Registration (Click Here)        Zoom Registration (Click Here)

Join us on September 28th at 12:00PM as we welcome the Honorable Ellen E. McCarthy to Harvard Kennedy School for a discussion on disinformation and truth in media as part of our latest Intelligence Seminar. In the world of information warfare, combating disinformation requires a joint strategy guiding a wide range of actors, including academia, tech companies, non profits, and entertainment, working together. This conversation will touch on recent work done by Truth in Media, a new initiative to distill fact from fiction in an increasingly challenging world of misinformation and disinformation.

Hon. Ellen McCarthy is the Chairwoman and CEO of the Truth in Media Cooperative and Noodle Labs. She has over three decades of national security service in a variety of leadership roles that span numerous intelligence organizations and disciplines, most recently as the lead of one of the U.S. Intelligence Community's 18 agencies. As the Assistant Secretary of State for the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, she reported to the Secretary of State and led a team that provided intelligence support for foreign policy purposes.

The discussion will be moderated by Lauren Zabierek, Belfer Center Executive Director and Maria Robson-Morrow, Program Manager for the Intelligence Project. This hybrid event is on the record and the virtual option is open to the public. The in-person option is open only to Harvard students, staff, faculty and fellows. Registration is required. Please note that in person registration is via the Zoom link; please select the in person option.

Food will be provided at the event.

With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine now in its seventh month and Russian forces in surprising retreat, the question still remains of how history, geography, and personality led to the largest conflict in Europe since 1945 – one that might be entering a more dangerous phase. How did we get here, did it have to happen, how might it be resolved, and with what consequences? 

Join us for a fascinating discussion with Philip Short, author of the recently published biography Putin, which draws on deep research to reveal the man behind the invasion of Ukraine who has dragged Russia back to a dark past. In light of the setbacks Russia has suffered in the face of stubborn Ukrainian resistance, signs of growing discontent at home, and an economy facing long term debilitation, might an alternate title be Putin - A Comeuppance Long in the Making?

Philip Short’s career has included serving as a foreign correspondent in Moscow, Beijing, and Washington, D.C., for the BBC, the Economist, and the Times of London. He is the author of definitive biographies on Mao, Pol Pot, and Francois Mitterand.

This virtual event is on the record and is open to the public. Paul Kolbe, Intelligence Project Director, will moderate this session. Registration is required. Please register at: https://harvard.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_01XhTi02SCKT-LriTCcLEQ.