The Need to Know conferences aim to stimulate research and discussions on the history of intelligence, with a special focus on the Cold War and the post Cold War Era. A core focus is to explore new information and new interpretations following the opening of archives in East and West.
The aim of this year’s conference is to look at defence intelligence during the Cold War and in the transition period afterwards, including the current Russian aggression against the Ukraine.
The conference is organised by Cold War Museum Langeland together with the Institute of National Remembrance - Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation; the Center for Cold War Studies of the University of Southern Denmark; Norwegian Aviation Museum, the King’s Intelligence and Security Group, King’s College London; the Estonian International Center for Defence and Security; Ludwig Boltzmann Institute for the Remembrance of War, and in partnership with the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence.
Need to Know XI: Defence Intelligence in the Cold War and Beyond
Cold War Museum Langelands Fort (Denmark), October 6-7, 2022
6th October 2022
9:00 – 9:20 Introduction
9:20 – 9:50 Keynote: Thomas Wegener Friis: Dealing with Defence intelligence
9:50-11:05 Panel I: Defence Intelligence and Military Diplomacy in the Changing World
Chair: Kristine Kjærsgaard
- Johan Matz: Sweden, the Baltic States and the Reporting of Defense Intelligence 1938-1940
- Paul Maddrell: The GDR foreign intelligence services’ collection of defence intelligence, 1951-1989
- Jacek Tebinka: Touring Communist Poland. British Defense Attachés in search of secrets 1980-1989
10:50– 11:20 Discussion
11:20- 11:45 Coffee break
11:45-12:45 Panel II – Military intelligence in the Baltic region
- Przemysław Gasztold: Polish military intelligence in Scandinavia
- Ivo Juurvee: GRU military intelligence in the Baltic States
12:15-12:45 Discussion
12:45-13:45 Lunch
13:45-15:15 Panel III: Eye in the Sky. Military Reconnaissance
Chair: Cees Wiebes
- Danny Pronk: Piercing the Fog? An Evaluation of Dutch Air Intelligence in the Cold War
- Elena Grossfeld: Space in Reverse - To the Foggier Future
- Adam Kuź: Commercial satellites as a tool of intelligence warfare in Ukraine
14:30-15:00 Discussion
15:00-15:30 Coffee break
15:30-17:00 Panel IV: Defence Intelligence and the Future. Indicators & Warnings
Chair: Erik Kulavig
- Dieter Bacher: Assessing a “new player”. Intelligence estimations on rebuilding of the Austrian armed forces after World War II
- Daniel Běloušek: Threat of unexpected nuclear attack – Czechoslovakia's involvement in the KGB Operation RYAN in the 1980s
- Douglas Selvage: Comrade Kryuchkov’s War Scare, 1983
- Władysław Bułhak: Implementing Electronic Processing of Intelligence Information as an Attempt at Systemic Change in the Polish Secret Services, 1970-1990
16:30-17:00 Discussion
18:00-20:00 Dinner
7th October 2022
9:00-10:40 Panel V: HUMINT and operational methods and technics during the Cold War
Chair: Hedwig Wagner
- Yaacov Falkov: ‘Tried and Trusted Patriots’ for the CIA: Latvian Case Study of the KGB Operativnaia Igra Theory
- Aleksandar Životić: Old Experiences and New Circumstances. Methods of the Yugoslav Defence Intelligence During the Yugoslav-Soviet Conflict (1948-1956)
- Bernd Schaefer/Eva Vybíralová: How to Make a Priest and Vatican Diplomat: The Czechoslovak StB and “Aster/JAB” (1974-1989ff.)
- Kevin P. Riehle: Cold War Expulsions of Soviet Officials: How Many and Why
10:00-10:40 Discussion
10:40-11:00 Coffee break
11:00-12:00 Panel VI: Intelligence and intelligence archives in transition periods
Chair: Sylwia Szyc
- János Kemény: Hungarian Intelligence and Counterintelligence Reforms after the Fall of Communism (1989-1994) – The open sources view.
- Jordan Baev: The Transition of the Bulgarian Military Intelligence in the Post-Cold War Era: From Warsaw Pact to NATO (1989-2004)
- Andriy Kohut: The challenges and experiences of the archives of the former special services during Russia's invasions against its neighbours. The case of modern wars in Ukraine
11:45-12:15 Discussion
12:15-13:15 Lunch
13:15-15:00 Panel VII: Cold War under the Hot Sky Revisited. Intelligence in Asia and Latin America
Chair: Władysław Bułhak
- Carolina Andrade: “Democratic Challenges of Civilian Control Over Intelligence Systems in Latin America
- Raphaël Ramos: A Transformative Ordeal: US Intelligence and the Korean War
- Marek Hańderek: Polish Military Intelligence in China and Japan in the 1970s and 1980s: a comparative analysis
14:00- 14:30 Discussion