Espionage, Intelligence and National Security

Overview

What you will study

The Espionage, Intelligence and National Security course offered by University of Oxford will grapple with key introductory theoretical issues in intelligence and counterintelligence, including concepts such as the intelligence cycle and methods of intelligence collection and dissemination.

We will study the place of espionage and intelligence in the lives of individuals and in modern day society, in relation to national and international security threats that we all face every day. In doing so, you will be introduced to the mechanics of modern-day intelligence and will examine the histories and methods of the main modern-day intelligence gathering agencies – the CIA, MI5, SIS, Mossad and the KGB/FSB, as well as some of their predecessors, tracing the development of espionage theory and techniques and seeking to understand the evolution and nature of international intelligence relationships.

Historical case studies will be used along the way so that you can see theory and technique in practice and understand and analyse intelligence successes and failures. We will also consider the practical concerns and challenges faced by intelligence officers and services, and the ethics of intelligence.