@melaniebrand
Lecturer in Intelligence Studies at Macquarie University, Sydney. Book Review Editor, Journal of Policing, Intelligence and Counter Terrorism. Historian interested in intelligence, analysis, warning, secrecy, accountability and espionage pop culture.
Lecturer in Medieval & Early Modern History
The School of History at the ANU seeks to appoint a Lecturer in History. Applicants working at the forefront of gender history between the 12th & 18th centuries, and on regions beyond Europe & Australia, are encouraged to apply. Applications due 19 April.
Abstract of the paper: This article examines the paradoxical effects of international legal accountability processes on the international law of intelligence. In response to increasing exposure of their intelligence activities, liberal democracies have shifted from a national security culture of secrecy to one of legal rationalisation, offering legal justifications to defend and legitimate contested practices. Rather than improving compliance, accountability processes have enabled states to strategically reshape legal norms to accommodate their preferred policies. Focusing on how legal justifications affect international lawโs constraining function, the article analyses the effects of legal justifications on three dimensions of legal norms: obligation, precision and delegation. Intertwining doctrinal legal analysis with International Relations scholarship on rhetorical and justificatory approaches to international law, it identifies four causal mechanisms through which strategic legal justifications decrease lawโs constraining power on state behaviour and facilitate norm evasion. The article demonstrates how strategic uses of international law for legitimation purposes can gradually alter legal norms without formal changes to legal texts or institutions, ultimately decreasing international lawโs constraining power. Shedding light on the limits and risks of legalisation as a regulatory strategy, these findings raise important questions about the effectiveness and adequacy of legal accountability strategies, particularly strategic litigation, in inducing behavioural change.
๐จ New publication
Very happy to share that my article in @globcon.bsky.social has now been published open access.
You can read it here: doi.org/10.1017/S204...
This. It takes so much more effort and time to mark studentsโ work and assess journal submissions that have been written/heavily edited by AI
Some interesting detail here about the intelligence picture (esp. SIGINT) in the run-up to the assassination. Weโll be talking about surveillance and algorithms in tomorrowโs seminar on my secrecy & accountability module.
Just under 2 weeks left to get your submissions in for SIHโs 2026 conference, hosted at Kingโs College London with the ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ดโ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ป๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐น๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ kcsi.uk and the ๐๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ฆ๐๐๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ย @warstudieskcl.bsky.social
๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ ๐ ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฐ๐ต 15, send proposals to: SIH2026Conf@gmail.com
REVIEW: Monica Robbins compares the kind of research academics do in the university with "strategic intelligence analysis [which is] is inherently messy, high-stakes, and subject to rapidly changing circumstances and incomplete information."
Interesting story in today's Guardian about intelligence in the lead up to the Russian invasion of Ukraine four years ago.
www.theguardian.com/world/ng-int...
For more on this, see our Special Issue on intelligence and the Ukraine War, published in Feb 2022.
www.tandfonline.com/toc/fint20/3...
Iโm super excited to share the cover of my new book โBlind Trust: Secrecy, Scandal and intelligence Accountability in Cold War Australiaโ! Coming out soon with @georgetownup.bsky.social
This โฌ๏ธ We really appreciate the hard work of all the researchers, peer reviewers and book reviewers that make each issue possible. Thank you!
๐ต๏ธโโ๏ธ Last chance to nominate #intelligence books for the Polly Corrigan and Kjetil Hatlebrekke Book Prizes. ๐คฉ
Out Monday! Sir Lawrence Freedman called it "a fascinating history". Never been more topical. How social scientists invented strategic intelligence analysis in 1950 and re-established CIA's reputation. Order now on Amazon Books amazon.com/Intelligence-Iโฆ
The National Archives of Australia have declassified federal Cabinet documents for 2005 today. A selection have been digitised.
www.naa.gov.au/explore-coll...
This โฌ๏ธ Please do get in touch with the book review editor of a journal in your field if you have a new book for review or if youโd like to review a particular book. Iโm always happy to hear about new releases and will get you a review copy if you want to review something for @jpict.bsky.social
In the midst of everything going on this week, I wrote a thing for the Australian Policy & History blog on the ongoing impact of James Bond, even in Australia:
โArrestingly well-researched and rich in biographical detail, this remarkable book reveals that Americaโs top spies believed in social science and hoped universities could rescue the early CIA from intelligence failure.โ โRichard Aldrich, author of GCHQ: The Uncensored Story.
In the midst of everything going on this week, I wrote a thing for the Australian Policy & History blog on the ongoing impact of James Bond, even in Australia:
Grab your copy of one of 50 free eprints of my review of Riehle's book 'Counter-intelligence at its core'. So useful in fact, it informed my recent work redesigning the Admiralty Code (NATO Code)!
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/KMJU2...
![3. Australia
John McEwen is expected to be sworn in as interim prime minister to-day or tomorrow. Australian leaders, still recovering from the shock of Harold Holtโs presumed death, have not yet worked out the next steps.
[redacted]
No important changes in government policies are expected.](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_thumbnail/plain/did:plc:rzeilmmec2ultyage4u75ja6/bafkreihx7g2ds6w6g2ivtggzbbqx6punqtcpc3bvpit2oiitmlpo4n7e7i)
3. Australia John McEwen is expected to be sworn in as interim prime minister to-day or tomorrow. Australian leaders, still recovering from the shock of Harold Holtโs presumed death, have not yet worked out the next steps. [redacted] No important changes in government policies are expected.
This is the CIA daily briefing for US President Johnson after the Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt disappeared while swimming on 17 December, 1967.
www.cia.gov/readingroom/...
We are also looking for a reviewer for this really interesting book for @jpict.bsky.social if anyone is interested!
Mr Gideon Haigh on why the ongoing, incompetent and dull-witted enshittification of the State Library of Victoria is so heartbreaking, so stupid, and so dangerous. Please share. www.cricketetal.com/p/an-institu...
I agree - great premise and so much about the state of academia rang true. Every time I hear the Hamilton sound track I think about the job interview scene!
Amazing news! Grats on the DECRA!
๐จ Competition!
There is still time to win 1 of 3 copies of The Presidentโs Kill List: Assassination and US Foreign Policy since 1945 by Luca Trenta.
You can enter here:
๐ Next up in our 20th bday book ๐, we have another enormously popular ๐จ OPEN ACCESS ๐จ article by @tonyingesson.bsky.social and Magnus Andersson, who examined numbers stations and radio ๐ป in the 21st century in "Clandestine communications in cyber-denied environments" โก๏ธ doi.org/10.1080/1833...
SLV is a beautiful, useful and very busy research space, and I use it regularly. I hope that they rethink these cuts & recognise that the library is so much more than a tourist destination.
Charles Darwin University is looking for a Lecturer in Indigenous Knowledges and Heritage, which will suit an anthropologist or archaeologist with a focus on Australia.
Continuing Full Time, Teaching Focused, Level A/B
A$76,604 โ A$137,659 pa
Details here:
www.cdu.edu.au/careers-cdu
๐กMoving on to some of our most popular intel articles, first up we have James Ramsey and Andrew Macpherson, who asked "Is the academy equipping tomorrowโs intelligence
professionals to analyze data-centric threats?" Read it here & in our upcoming 20th bday collection! ๐ โก๏ธ doi.org/10.1080/1833...
'The current Labour government does make considerable use of the NSC, but has made some structural changes which have created more distance between policymakers and the intelligence agencies' writes @drceliap-v.bsky.social in latest RUSI Commentary.
We are hiring! @mqsois.bsky.social is currently recruiting a full time, ongoing Lecturer Level B in Cyber Security and Cyber Intelligence. This is a Teaching & Leadership position and could be a great opportunity for an early career academic. More info here: www.seek.com.au/job/88616507
Iโm really excited to be speaking as part of a panel on the Politics of Intelligence at APSA 2025 with the very talented @andrewzammit.bsky.social and David Schaefer. Iโll be presenting my research with Brian Cuddy on the politics of the Hope RCIS on Wednesday afternoon - come past if you can!