Out of the Shadows Project Podcast Luca Trenta

In this episode we welcome investigative journalist Michela Wrong. Micheal is a leading expert on Africa, particularly the great lakes region. She has written 5 books: a novel set in the horn of Africa and 4 non-fiction books.

Her non-fiction and investigative work has focused on the history and politics of Congo, Eritrea, Kenya, and, more recently Rwanda.

In 2021 she published Do Not Disturb: The Story of a Political Murder and an African Regime Gone Bad, The book explores the repressive nature of the current Rwandan regime with a particularly focus on its extraterritorial repression, including the use of assassination.

Building on Michela's book and on a report by Human Rights Watch, the episode covers the Rwandan regime, its intelligence services, and its practices. The core of the episode is a discussion of the use of extraterritorial assassinations. We cover the targets selected for assassination, the rationale behind assassination, and the methods used. We also cover plausible and implausible deniability, the signalling functions of these assassinations at home and abroad. Finally, we discuss the extent to which impunity and the absence of repercussions influences human rights, international norms, and other states' practice.

Michela's book recommendations are:

- The work of Gerard Prunier on Rwanda and the region, for example, The Rwanda Crisis: History of a Genocide,
- The work of Rene Lemarchand, including his Remembering genocides in Central Africa,
- David van Reybrouck, Congo: the epic history of a people.

In this episode we welcome Dr Dafith Townley. Dr Towley is a lecturer in the Department of history at the University of Reading. He is an expert in intelligence and cyber security.

In the episode, we discuss his latest book:

The Year of Intelligence in the United States: public opinion, national security, and the 1975 Church Committee (https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030676452)

The episode covers the origins of the 1975 investigations into the conduct of the intelligence community, the relationship between the Ford Presidency, Congress, and the CIA, and the results and long-term effects of the investigations.

We also discuss a common are of interest that is the Church Committee's investigation of the US government's involvement in assassination.

As usual, we conclude with some reading recommendations. I hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode, we welcome Dr Martin D. Brown. Dr Brown is Associate Professor of International History at Richmond University in London. He previously worked as the Lead Researcher, Centre of Excellence in Intercultural Studies, School of Humanities, Tallinn University, Estonia. As you will soon learn, this episode is all about James Bond. While Dr Brown’s main area of research is the Cold War and Diplomatic History, he as has a strong interest in Bond and the world around one of fiction’s most famous characters. In the episode we explore Bon novels (Ian Fleming’s ones and beyond), the field of 'bondology' and the cultural turn in intelligence studies, the symbiotic relationship between fiction and international politics, and, of course, the popularity of Bond and its consequences. As usual the episode concludes with some book recommendations. I hope you enjoy the show.

In this episode, we welcome Dr Sarah-Jane Corke. Sarah-Jane is Associate Professor of History at the University of New Brunswick. The episode builds on her 2008 book published by Routledge, US Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy. Sarah-Jane is also the President of the North American Society for Intelligence History. Enjoy the episode and check the Society's website for more information (www.intelligencehistory.org).

In this episode we welcome Dov Levin. Dov is Assistant professor of International Relations at the University of Hong Kong. He has written an excellent book on electoral interference call Meddling in the Ballot Box: the causes and effects of partisan electoral interventions, published by Oxford University Press. In the episode, we talk about the causes of electoral interferences, how they are carried out, the consequences, and we conclude with a discussion of the 2016 US elections and Russia's interference. Enjoy the episode.

In our third episode, we have a chat with Michael Poznansky, Assistant Professor of International Affairs and Intelligence Studies at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs of the University of Pittsburgh. Michael's research looks at democracies and covert action, with a specific focus on US foreign policy. In the episode with discuss 'democratic peace theory,' democracies' use of covert action, historical cases of covert action conducted by the United States, the relations between domestic and international law and covert action, and recent US practice.