The Master of Disguise: How Jonna Mendez Helped the CIA Outsmart the KGB
CIA seal in entrance of the CIA headquarters lobby. All warfare is based on deception.” — Sun Tzu, “The Art of War”. The Mission: Impossible franchise is famous for its…
Best of/Interesting Culture Games & Gadgets History Intelligence/Spies Weaponizing the Behavioral Sciences
The Stargate Project: Secret US Intelligence Program to Explore Psychic Capabilities
Self-proclaimed psychic Uri Geller doing a spoon-bending trick in a mall in Switzerland, 2005. According to declassified documents, the CIA recruited Geller in order to test for “clairvoyant” or “telepathic”…
The Gehlen Organization: Controversial Postwar German Intelligence Agency
West Berliners watch a Douglas C-54 Skymaster land at Tempelhof Airport, 1948, during the Soviet Berlin Blockade. The Gehlen Organization (or Gehlen Group) was a Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) funded…
Korea, Coffee and the Korean War
In “King Gojong’s Starbucks Adventure,” Junman Kang sheds light on an intriguing historical episode: the introduction of coffee to Korea. It was King Gojong who had the privilege of being…
Pinal County Airpark: A Once Secretive Base for CIA Operations
Overflight of Pinal County Airpark (center) and Silverbell Army Heliport (right) in 2018. Photo: MacGtverGPT. CC BY-SA 4.0 The Airpark, along with much of Arizona aviation history, is very rich.…
Why Do Terrorists Like Toyotas?
Militant groups have long employed Toyota pickup trucks as versatile war vehicles, particularly in the Middle East. These trucks, known for their lightweight build, agility, fuel efficiency, and suitability for…
The Toyota War in Chad
The conflict known as the Toyota War, or the Great Toyota War, unfolded in 1987 in Northern Chad and along the Chad–Libya border. This pivotal chapter marked the concluding phase…
Operation Anthropoid: the Assassination of Reinhard Heydrich
Reinhard Heydrich’s car (a Mercedes-Benz 320 Convertible B) after the 1942 SOE Operation Anthropoid assassination attempt in Prague. Heydrich later died from his injuries. Photo: German Federal Archive. Operation Anthropoid…
Operation Mincemeat: How a Corpse Fooled the Nazis
Charles Cholmondeley and Ewen Montagu, two of the British intelligence officers involved in the planning of Operation Mincemeat, shown in front of the vehicle transporting the body of Glyndwr Michael…
Oleg Gordievsky: Cold War Double Agent
Oleg Gordievsky (right) with US President Ronald Reagan in 1987. Photo: Mary Anne Fackelman – Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. Oleg Gordievsky was a former colonel of the KGB who became…