John Sawers, former Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), shares his insights on how security threats have evolved with the rise of digital technologies and social media. In this interview, he offers a compelling exploration of the shift from traditional methods to contemporary security challenges. Sawers examines how intelligence approaches have adapted to address new threats, including the influence of social media on democratic processes and the evolving global geopolitical landscape. The discussion provides An insightful analysis of the current dynamics in intelligence work and highlights the critical issues facing intelligence services in an increasingly interconnected and digital world.
RELATED CONTENT
-
May 31, 2018He wore sunglasses. A traditional red and white checkered headscarf, a Bedouin Arab keffiyeh, covered his balding head. His combat uniform was khaki colored. When my host sat down he clamped his Kalachnikov with two hands, tucking the weapon to his chubby body, 5 feet and 4 inches in all. He was unshaven, with his famous three days beard. The tent was surrounded by armed guards, since we were meeting (in secret) in the Jordan Valley, near the Israeli-Jordanian border. Caution was ad ... -
May 30, 2018In a more chaotic and critical Mediterranean security environment that is facing a huge geopolitical change, the NATO alliance has found itself challenged by rival states across the spectrum of conflict. Russia, which represents an instance of this change, has acquired for the first time in its modern history a proper permanent base in the Mediterranean. Also, other geopolitical changes such as proliferation of ballistic missiles among both state and non-state actors around the Medi ...
-
May 25, 2018Is it possible to reasonably reflect and analyze the Sahara conflict without taking into account, on the one hand, the relevance of both legal and extra-legal factors, and on the other hand, the interplay between the different stakeholders involved ? This intensely complex topic requires taking into consideration not only regulations of international law, but also the geopolitical, anthropological, and security aspects intertwined in the matter ... -
May 11, 2018Hugo Sada - Special Advisor, Dakar International Forum on Peace and Security in Africa. ... -
May 3, 2018This policy brief endeavors to instigate a re-evaluation of the role of the media in counter-terrorism practice. The mass media coverage of terrorist acts has created a situation where a symbiotic relationship is established between the media and terrorism. Both parties rely on each other to further strengthen their presence, which is disadvantageous towards counter-terrorism efforts, but simultaneously beneficial for both terrorist and media organisations. The media has become a pl ... -
May 3, 2018“Russia vows to shoot down any and all missiles fired at Syria. Get ready Russia, because they will be coming, nice and new and smart” (Donald Trump on Twitter). A menace in 223 characters - an imaginary video game moving slowly towards the reality of Hiroshima. History on collision course with our future. No thought about victims, no word of destruction, just “you should not be partner with a gas killing animal, who kills his people and enjoys it.” The Commander in Chief of the Un ...
-
April 27, 2018In this podcast, our senior fellow Marcus Vinicius de Freitas discusses the Iranian nuclear deal, transatlantic relations - namely the relations between Brazil and African countries - and ... -
April 23, 2018The 132nd day in the Gregorian calendar, anno 2018, will be part of history, a day future generations will most likely not forget, the 12th of May. Only history buffs will remember that on the 12th day of May, Napoleon conquered Venice, once known as the “Most Serene Republic”. On May 12th and the following days in the year of 1940, the Nazis crossed the Meuse and defeated France in a Blitzkrieg. England’s King George VI celebrated his coronation in 1937, on this same fateful day, w ...
-
April 19, 2018L’Afrique centrale a fait l’objet du focus sous-régional de la deuxième partie des cinquièmes Dialogues stratégiques, une rencontre biannuelle organisée le 11 avril dernier à Paris par l’OCP Policy Center et HEC. Renouveler le partenariat Europe-Afrique Le débat s’est d’abord inscrit dans une réflexion générale sur « l’Afrique et le monde». Dans ce cadre, le partenariat traditionnel entre l’Afrique et l’Europe semble avoir besoin de se renouveler, dans la mesure où la politique e ...
-
April 13, 2018L’avenir de l’Inde a fait débat le 11 avril en présence de 110 personnes, lors des 5èmes Dialogues stratégiques, une rencontre biannuelle organisée à Paris par l’OCP Policy Center et le Centre HEC de géopolitique. En 2050, l’Inde comptera 17 % de la population globale et aura le troisième PIB mondial. « Le ralentissement de la croissance en Chine n’occultera peut-être plus l’essor de cette grande démocratie », a noté Jacques Gravereau, président du HEC Eurasia Institute. Soulignan ...
