New challenges to intelligence communities
Mirosław Minkina
University of SiedlceAbstract
This article deals with the changing situation of intelligence communities. The author explains the main reasons for breaking the monopoly of the state on information. The research was performed from a positivist and post-positivist perspective and it considers the so-called mainstream theories. For its purposes, a system analysis was included as well as references were made to the genesis of the information flow and its use by secret services of different countries. In addition, an in-depth study of the activity of Russian and Chinese special services, with the key facts and methods of their operation in mind, was conducted. The analysis confirmed that the secret, closed and elite world of intelligence is becoming radically democratized. At the same time, investigative journalism and independent investigators, e.g. Bellingcat, are of increasing importance to military intelligence in the current reality of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.
Keywords:
international relations, investigative journalism, , intelligence, secret services, Bellingcat, China, mobile informationReferences
A Long-awaited… (2022), A Long-awaited UN Report Condemns China’s Actions in Xinjiang, [in:] The Economist 01.09. Google Scholar
An Unenriching… (2022), An Unenriching Debate, [in:] The Economist 10.09. Google Scholar
Bellingcat, [in:] https://www.bellingcat.com/ (accessed: 22.02.2025). Google Scholar
Bellingcat is Banned… (2022), Bellingcat is Banned in Russia. Here’s How to Beat the Block, [in:] Bellingcat https://www.bellingcat.com/resources/2022/04/22/how-to-beat-russias-block-on-bellingcat/ (accessed: 26.06.2022). Google Scholar
Britain’s Chief… (2021), Britain’s Chief Spooks Sees China As the Main Intelligence Threat, [in:] The Economist 04.12, [in:] https://www.economist.com/britain/2021/12/04/britains-chief-spook-sees-china-as-the-main-intelligence-threat (accessed: 28.06.2022). Google Scholar
China ‘Unaware’… (2021), China ‘Unaware’ of Any Afghan Deportation of Chinese on Spying Charges, [in:] Reuters 07.01, [in:] https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-china-arrests-idUSKBN29C25U (accessed: 15.09.2022). Google Scholar
China’s Spies… (2022), China’s Spies Are not Always As Good As Advertised, [in:] The Economist 14.06. Google Scholar
Chinese Political… (2022), Chinese Political Interference Has Western Spooks Worried, [in:] The Economist 21.04, [in:] https://www.economist.com/china/2022/04/21/chinese-political-interference-has-western-spooks-worried (accessed: 18.09.2022). Google Scholar
Corera, G. (2022a), China: MI5 and FBI heads warn of ‘immense’ threat, [in:] BBC News 07.07, [in:] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-62064506 (accessed: 09.09.2022). Google Scholar
Corera, G. (2022b), Why did MI5 name Christine Lee as an ‘agent of influence’?, [in:] BBC News 19.07, [in:] https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-62179004 (accessed: 08.09.2022). Google Scholar
For the First Time… (2021), For the First Time, a Career Diplomat Is to Lead the CIA, [in:] The Economist 11.01.86 Google Scholar
Foreign Interference… (2020), Foreign Interference – China’s Use of the United Front Work Department, [in:] Public Safety Canada 9.06, [in:] https://www.securitepublique.gc.ca/cnt/ trnsprnc/brfng-mtrls/prlmntry-bndrs/20200930/015/index-en.aspx (accessed: 08.09.2022). Google Scholar
Foroutan, F. (2022), Suspicious Bind: Iran’s Relationship with Russia, [in:] European Council on Foreign Relations, [in:] https://ecfr.eu/article/suspicious-bind-irans-relationship-with-russia/ (accessed: 12.09.2022). Google Scholar
Gentry, J. A. (2021), Diplomatic Spying: How Useful Is It?, [in:] International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence 34 (3), 432-462.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Gustafson, K. | Lomas, D. | Wagner, S. et al. (2024), Intelligence warning in the Ukraine war, Autumn 2021 – Summer 2022, [in:] Intelligence and National Security 39 (3), 400-419.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Harding, L. (2021), We Are Bellingcat: The Reinvention of Reporting for the Internet Age, [in:] The Guardian 01.02, [in:] https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/feb/01/we-are-bellingcat-by-eliot-higgins-review-the-reinvention-of-reporting-for-the-internet-age (accessed: 23.06.2022). Google Scholar
Higgins, E. (2022), Russia’s Bucha ‘Facts’ Versus the Evidence, [in:] Bellingcat 04.04, [in:] https:// www.bellingcat.com/news/2022/04/04/russias-bucha-facts-versus-the-evidence/ (accessed: 26.06.2022). Google Scholar
How the Crisis… (2022), How the Crisis over Taiwan Will Change US-China Relations, [in:] The Economist 11.08. Google Scholar
Massicot, D. (2023), What Russia Got Wrong: Can Moscow Learn From Its Failures in Ukraine?, [in:] Foreign Affairs 102 (2), 78-79. Google Scholar
McCandless Farmer, B. (2022), How Bellingcat is Using TikTok to Investigate the War in Ukraine, [in:] CBS News 15.05, [in:] https://www.cbsnews.com/news/bellingcat-tiktok-ukraine-60- minutes-2022-05-15/ (accessed: 26.06.2022). Google Scholar
Minkina, M. (2023), Russian Secret Services in the So-called Special Operation in Ukraine, [in:] Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski XIV/2, 125-138.
Crossref
Google Scholar
Moore, R. (2022), Speech by SIS Chief Richard Moore: Human Intelligence in the Digital Age, [in:] https://www.sis.gov.uk/richard-moore-first-public-speech.html (accessed: 9.09.2022). Google Scholar
Open-source… (2021), Open-source intelligence challenges state monopolies on information, [in:] The Economist 07.08. Google Scholar
Oversight and Foreign… (2022), Oversight and Foreign Affairs Committees Call on Social Media Companies to Preserve Evidence of Possible War Crimes in Ukraine, [in:] https://oversight. house.gov/news/press-releases/oversight-and-foreign-affairs-committees-call-on-social-media-companies-to (accessed: 26.06.2022) Google Scholar
Soldatov, A. | Borogan, I. (2022), Kak voyennyyemesyatsy izmenili FSB, [Солдатов, А. | Бороган, И. (2022), Как военные месяцы изменили ФСБ,] agentura.ru, [in:] https://agentura. ru/investigations/kak-pervye-voennye-mesjacy-izmenili-fsb/ 2022 (accessed: 08.12.2022). Google Scholar
The Invasion… (2022), The Invasion of Ukraine Is not the First Social Media War, but It Is the Most Viral, [in:] The Economist 02.04. Google Scholar
Ukraine Rejects… (2022), Ukraine Rejects Iran’s Final Report on Downing of Flight PS752, [in:] BBC News 17.03, [in:] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-56428698 (accessed: 25.06.2022). Google Scholar
U.S. to Withdraw… (2025), U.S. to Withdraw From Group Investigating Responsibility for Ukraine Invasion, [in:] The New York Times 17.03, [in:] https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/17/us/politics/ trump-ukraine-invasion-accountability.html (accessed: 02.03.2025). Google Scholar
Wojna w Ukrainie… (2022), Wojna w Ukrainie. Są kolejne dowody na ludobójstwo. Zniszczone, zaminowane miasta i wsie, trupy na ulicach, [in:] Polska Agencja Prasowa 05.04, [in:] https://www. pap.pl/aktualnosci/news%2C1145757%2Cwojna-w-ukrainie-sa-kolejne-dowody-na-ludobojstwo-zniszczone-zaminowane (accessed: 23.02.2025). Google Scholar
University of Siedlce
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Mirosław Minkina, Unity of Russian Society. Importance of Building Social Cohesion for the Security of Russian Federation , Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski: Vol. 12 No. 2 (2021): East European Review
- Mirosław Minkina, Russian secret services in the so-called special operation in Ukraine , Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski: Vol. 14 No. 2 (2023): East European Review
- Mirosław Minkina, The relations of the Russian Federation with the West between 1991 and 2014 , Przegląd Wschodnioeuropejski: Vol. 13 No. 2 (2022): East European Review
