Intelligence on Félix Tréguer

Systemic Opacity and Black Holes in Surveillance Oversight

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 00:00:00 +0000

My contribution to the recent symposium of the Commission nationale de contrôle des techniques de renseignement took the form of an article (in both French and English) in the journal Études françaises de renseignement et de cyber (French Studies on Intelligence and Cyber). In it, I revisit the systemic opacity that characterizes the surveillance activities of French intelligence services and the “black holes” of oversight in this domain.

The article also questions the limits of institutional reforms in the face of these dynamics and advocates at minimum for compliance with international legal standards and a much more radical approach to transparency.

New Book: Intelligence Oversight in Times of Transnational Impunity

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0000

We are pleased to announce the publication of our collective volume Intelligence Oversight in Times of Transnational Impunity: Who Will Watch the Watchers?, co-edited with Didier Bigo and Emma Mc Cluskey, published by Routledge.

Abstract

This volume, derived from the GUARDINT project, examines contemporary challenges in intelligence oversight within a context of growing transnationalization of intelligence activities. Drawing on empirical case studies and theoretical analyses, the contributions question the effectiveness of democratic surveillance mechanisms in the face of mass surveillance scandals revealed since 2013. The book explores structural limitations of national oversight institutions confronted with surveillance practices that largely transcend state borders, while proposing avenues for rethinking forms of accountability in this domain.

Towards Democratic Intelligence Oversight

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0000

With my GUARDINT colleagues, we just published in the Review of International Studies of a collective article on the limits, practices and struggles around democratic control of intelligence services.

Abstract

“Despite its common usage, the meaning of ‘democratic’ in democratic intelligence oversight has rarely been spelled out. In this article, we situate questions regarding intelligence oversight within broader debates about the meanings and practices of democracy. We argue that the literature on intelligence oversight has tended to implicitly or explicitly follow liberal and technocratic ideas of democracy, which have limited the understanding of oversight both in academia and in practice. Thus, oversight is mostly understood as an expert, institutional and partially exclusive arrangement that is supposed to strike a balance between individual freedom and collective security, with the goal of establishing the legitimacy of and trust in intelligence work in a national setting. ‘Healthy’ or ‘efficient’ democratic oversight then becomes a matter of technical expertise, non-partisanship, and the ability to guard secrets. By analysing three moments of struggle around what counts as intelligence oversight across Germany, the UK, and the US, this article elucidates their democratic stakes. Through a practice-based approach, we argue that oversight takes much more agonistic, contentious, transnational, and public forms. However, these democratic practices reconfiguring oversight remain contested or contained by dominant views on what constitutes legitimate and effective intelligence oversight.”

Timeline of Intelligence Surveillance Scandals

Thu, 15 Dec 2022 00:00:00 +0000

Together with my colleagues from the GUARDINT project, we are publishing a report on surveillance scandals involving the US, British, German, and French intelligence services.

Summary

This timeline lists and documents the main surveillance scandals that have come to light in recent decades, from the first revelations about the NSA in the 1960s to Edward Snowden’s disclosures and more recent scandals. It provides an empirical resource for analyzing changes in intelligence services’ surveillance practices in light of the challenges they face.