Joe Devanny

Senior Lecturer | @warstudies @kingscollegelon | National Security/Cyber Statecraft | Views mine.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Research Handbook on #Cyberwarfare is out today! | Edited by @tcstvns & me, with 23 chapters from an outstanding group of contributors, covering the theory, practice, governance, actors & institutions involved in #cyberwarfare @warstudies @ElgarPublishing https://t.co/s8DuwHZLim

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

@AlexMartin @UK_Daniel_Card It could also be new scale of a known technique (they mention 1000s of adverts), which they think is itself worth highlighting.

[David Gioe @GioeINT]

As I argue in @ForeignAffairs, the current transatlantic crisis of trust may actually yield a stronger future alliance bc Europeans are increasing their capabilities in #defense & #intelligence, but only if trust can be restored. @warstudies @KCLSecurity https://t.co/SwpIOU0BIx

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

@MTSavill Agreed. Definitely some simple models available to improve that political/official coherence on foreign/NS within No.10 & CO, but unclear to me that there’s any appetite to change it, which is a shame.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Interesting read, highlighting that No.10 needs not only good foreign policy advice but also understanding of interplay between domestic politics & foreign policy, & ability to effectively communicate foreign policy for domestic audiences. Notable shortcomings under Starmer.

[Ben Judah @b_judah]

What’s the real foreign policy prep Labour — Starmer or Burnham — need to be doing? Either this or the next Number 10 need to stay planning for three politically toxic summits an an Ukraine peace wildcard. Link to my SubStack below and do sign up!

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Interesting @rusi webinar next week on the “British Way in Cyber Warfare,” featuring two @warstudies colleagues @monica_kello & @tcstvns. Sign up details in the URL. https://t.co/1uC59a3aA5

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

@RJ_Reeve It’s difficult to say, there were several different layers of intended communication. I wonder how much each of these speeches is conceived as part of ongoing orchestrated narrative campaigns, vs just a series of ad hoc interventions that all generally nod to the most recent NSS.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Just read yesterday’s GCHQ Director’s speech. Very wide-ranging (domestic, foreign, tech/geopolitics) as you’d expect. A couple of language points jumped out to me,

[GCHQ @GCHQ]

Read the full speech here:

https://t.co/NSf08xIIzB

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Overall, I think an annual GCHQ speech is a good addition, & should be readily sequenced with other set-piece agency speeches, plus NCSC, & ideally a framing public assessment from JIO.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

It makes sense for NCSC’s parent dept to repeat the domestic messages, and overall I think the speech exercises good control of the flow between the two (domestic/foreign).

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

@RJ_Reeve Select committees should absolutely have more opportunities to do that. And the more public agency heads become, the more it highlights that we have a publicity-shy NSA too.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

We’re closer to having a clear, structured annual sequence of security-related speeches & assessments, from ministers & senior officials. Still a bit untidy (e.g. division of effort between recent C/SIS speech & this one, & proper subjects for collection agencies v assessment).

[Deborah Haynes @haynesdeborah]

Russia is "relentlessly targeting" critical infrastructure and democracy in the UK and across Europe, the head of the intelligence agency @GCHQ will warn.

Anne Keast-Butler will also use the first of what is set to be an annual threat assessment to reveal that her officers are helping to counter "reckless sabotage and assassination attempts" by the Kremlin.

She will warn that the risk of miscalculation, which could trigger wider conflict, "is as high as I have ever seen it".

At the same time, Ms Keast-Butler will say in a lecture on Wednesday that Vladimir Putin is "going backwards on the battlefield" in Ukraine.

You can read more here⬇️

https://t.co/0KEmsDkNaB

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

@Sandbagger_01 Totally agree, arguably govt could/should try to change that by using Chair/JIC to do an annual lecture and parcel up topics for the separate agency chiefs too. But also carefully separating those interventions from the politics.

[Anand Menon @anandMenon1]

Fascinating and, IMO, spot on from Stewart.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

I made that argument for @LabourList, on foreign policy not being a reason to keep Starmer in post. https://t.co/NGlAYcAUM5

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Always likely that a PM perceived as weakened and on the way out would struggle with foreign policy.

[Ellen Milligan @EllenAMilligan]

New: Slow progress in talks + Starmer’s eroded authority has disrupted planning for the next UK-EU summit

UK+EU officials are worried there will be few deliverables + say Starmer may be seen by Brussels as too weak to offer the concessions they want
https://t.co/Xg3nUkTD9n

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Wouldn’t have thought security was an obvious area for McSweeney’s post-No.10 career, but I guess if he keeps a narrow focus on threats to the integrity of political processes and parties he has relevant experience.

[Esther Webber @estwebber]

EXCL:

Morgan McSweeney is doubling down on his pivot to security as he shows up in Prague to warn about disinformation.

Allies say he is conscious of the potential for AI to ramp up in British elections, with trust already low and the Reform Party on the march.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Government can plausibly argue that the Address doesn’t explicitly rule out what (it sounds like) it is doing, while ISC can complain reasonably that the spirit of the Address is clear.

[Joe Devanny @josephdevanny]

Re-reading the wording of the Humble Address, I wonder how much of this impasse would have been avoided by adding even more prescriptive clauses specifying what was in the ISC’s remit here. Instead, the Address was a strange mix of vague/broad language and a list of specifics.

[Pippa Crerar @PippaCrerar]

Ministers accused of cover-up after admitting they withheld information from Intelligence & Security Committee relating to Peter Mandelson’s appointment 👇

https://t.co/J4ezh1SgZm