grey dynamics

The After Action Report

May 5, 2018

Ahmed Hassan

  In the after action report I revisit and analyse intelligence and security news from the previous week.   The increase of public private partnership in the intelligence domain was once again underscored, by an announcement about the United States Army Intelligence and Security Command (INSCOM). INSCOM is granting CACI (an information services company that holds multiple government contracts in the defence, intelligence and healthcare spheres) a task order worth 145 million Dollars. Under this contract, CACI is tasked with…

Ignorance is Bliss
: Trump and the Moral Panic of Videogame Violence

April 10, 2018

Perry Gray

  On the 28th February 2018, two weeks after the Stoneman Douglas High School Shooting, Donald Trump attempted to reignite the argument that common multimedia platforms are in-part responsible for causing violent behaviour. During the inevitable discussions on gun control, he claimed that “the video games, the movies, the internet stuff is so violent”. Thereby he attempted to shift the focus of discussion through a straw man argument of 'media violence'. What can this attempt to straw man the issue…

‘Hybrid threat’?
: Defining Russian Intelligence Strategy

April 4, 2018

Katie Wilson

   The 4th March poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal with a Novichok nerve agent has once again brought Russia, and its foreign affairs strategy, to the fore of Western politics. As such, the ‘Fusion Doctrine’ recently announced by Theresa May, which will allow the UK to utilise a wide spectrum of resources to counter Russian aggression, has reignited interest in the concept of Russian ‘hybrid warfare’ among the intelligence community.    The Russian intelligence services remain notoriously secretive, despite…

The Geopolitical Ramifications of Damming the Nile
: The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam

November 18, 2017

Sune J. Andersen

  The latest round of talks between Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt has failed to reach a consensus on the issue of reports on the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD). These technical reports are necessary to completing the agreement between the three states on the GERD. However, there is a realistic possibility that Ethiopia will commence filling of the reservoir for the dam before the technical reports are finalized by French consulting firms.     Following the latest meetings on November…

Libyan Political Deadlock
: Bad Business for its Oil Industry

November 8, 2017

Ingvild E. Rygg

  Libya is currently spiralling downwards leaving Africa’s largest crude oil reserve to take a major hit. The national powerhouse being divided in three governments all fighting for international recognition and national legitimacy. After years of unreliable oil production since the revolution in 2011 and Gaddafi’s fall, Libya’s oil industry is unlikely to be rebuilt in the near future. The national oil industry will not prosper as long as it is on the front line in a violent battle between…