Please find our Call for Papers IIHA 2025.
The 2025 IIHA conference will take place at the ‘Akademie für Politische Bildung’ in Tutzing, near Munich in Germany, on September 26-28, 2025. Three decades ago, a small group of scholars met in Tutzing to establish the International Intelligence History Association, devoted to the study of the history of intelligence from antiquity to current times. Over the years, both the research field and the research subject have evolved, as has the IIHA, which is today the leading global scholarly society in the field of intelligence studies.
Intelligence and espionage almost always played a role in security, conflict and international relations. While hopes of a so-called ‘peace dividend’ thrived in the early 1990s, after decades of Cold War, it is now clear that intelligence is an integral part of an increasingly uncertain world. Thus the 2025 IIHA Annual Conference will examine in historical context a wide range of issues relating to the potential and limitations of intelligence, including:
- The impact of intelligence successes or failures on international relations
- Difficulties of cooperation between domestic and foreign intelligence
- Intelligence cooperation between friends and competing nations
- The balance between legitimate surveillance of political extremism and political repression
- The balance between democratic oversight of intelligence agencies and their most comprehensive ability to protect democracy
- The use of intelligence agencies of authoritarian-led states as an instrument to undermine foreign democracies
- The interaction between intelligence and technology – how technological development challenged intelligence and how intelligence paved the way for technological development
- The roles of intelligence in preventing terrorism and political violence
The study of intelligence since 1945 is playing a growing role in the field, not least due to the ‘Archival Revolution’ in Central and Eastern Europe which has enabled new depths of research. However, the field of intelligence history is not limited to contemporary studies. Thus, we strongly encourage also scholars working with intelligence in earlier historical eras to submit paper abstracts.
Young Researchers Forum:
A particularly important part of developing a research field is the participation of junior researchers, especially postgraduate and doctoral students. The annual IIHA conferences have a long tradition of providing a forum where young researchers can present their ongoing projects and receive constructive criticism, inputs, and new network contacts.
Please submit your paper proposal abstract of 150-300 words and a short CV by email to the IIHA Executive Director, Thomas Wegener Friis, at: exec_director@intelligence-history.org
The deadline for submissions is April 30, 2025.