Reassessing pre-war Japanese espionage: The Rutland naval spy case and the Japanese intelligence threat before Pearl Harbor

Soon after the termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921, Squadron Leader Frederick Joseph Rutland covertly offered the Japanese navy technical help to develop aircraft carriers. In doing so Rutland played a significant role in the evolution of Japan's offensive capability that made the attack on Pearl Harbor possible. Of as lasting importance was the impact the case had in shaping the perception of ‘the Japanese threat’. British security and intelligence agencies' knowledge of Japanese naval intelligence actions in accepting this ‘offer of service’ and running Rutland as a clandestine agent was not balanced by any understanding of the fragmented nature of the Japanese leadership and intelligence bureaucracy. The case in the 1920s provided the Security Service and SIS with the apparent evidence to justify reassessing Japan from benign if opportunistic former ally to hostile power, apparently proving that Japan's intelligence actions reflected sustained hostile intent throughout the inter-War period.     

The Dentist Chair: Dr. Gessel Schkolnikoff and the mysteries of Soviet espionage

The history of Soviet espionage is largely the story of failures and defections. This article considers the possibility that a low-key dentist, who had a surgery in London in the middle of the last century, was one of the exceptions and successfully avoided detection. While I was researching in the files of several well-known Soviet agents, the name of Dr. Gessel Schkolnikoff often appeared, and then in early 2018 a Home Office file was released to the National Archives of the UK that has provided some of the missing background to this Russian immigrant. There are precedents for Soviet intelligence agencies using a dental surgery as a conduit for passing on information and there are persuasive indications that Dr. Schkolnikoff’s surgery can be added to their list.     

The Munsinger affair: Images of espionage and security in 1960s Canada

Using the Gerda Munsinger affair of 1966, this article explores Canadian attitudes in the 1960s concerning the nature of security threats to Canada, the proper role of government in protecting Canadian security, and espionage and spies generally. Initial findings suggest that the RCMP was out of step with much of the Canadian public in determining what constituted a legitimate security threat and that, regardless of how Munsinger herself was variously assessed as a security risk by the actors in the public inquiry or by outside observers, there clearly existed a widely shared perception of the ‘typical profile’ of the female spy which was likely heavily influenced by contemporary popular culture.     

Investigating political marketing using mixed method: the case for campaign spending data

This article is a response to calls for new research methods in the study of political marketing. We submit that the mixed method approach to studying how political parties use opinion research and political communication is underused. More specifically we believe that campaign spending data, which are commonly analyzed in electoral studies, can become a significant source of information for the study of political marketing. We summarize the availability of electoral expenditure data in 13 established democracies before using a mixed method design to study political marketing management in Canada. We seek to validate quantitative data about marketing spending activity by administering semi‐structured interviews with practitioners who held senior campaign positions in major political parties. Our preliminary look at campaign finance through a political marketing scholarship lens reveals the strengths of drawing insights from such data but also some limitations. We conclude that, as other research has posited, Canadian political parties focus more on advertising in their approach to campaigning. More broadly, we propose that students of political marketing should balance proprietary interviews with transparent, standardized, replicable and objective sources of information such as campaign spending data, and vice‐versa. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Planting the espionage tree: the French military and the professionalization of intelligence at the end of the nineteenth century

Abstract

Intelligence in France evolved as it professionalized at the end of the nineteenth century, led by determined individuals within the French army. However, in the centuries prior to the professionalization of espionage and counterespionage, military men rejected intelligence, viewing the practice with skepticism and disdain. This article asserts that there was a change in views towards espionage, particularly among the military, beginning in the middle of the nineteenth century. As the army went from eschewing intelligence to embracing it and taking the lead in its practice, the nature of intelligence work in France consequently reflected the goals and aims of the army, prioritizing military intelligence over others.     

Donald and Winston at the Ministry of Alternative Facts

Sales of Nineteen Eighty-Four and other dystopian classics have risen in response to the audacious attempts of President Donald Trump to manipulate public opinion by circulating “alternative facts” throughout the presidential campaign and since his November 2016 election victory. Various statements by Trump and his advisors that exemplify what has come to be known as the “post-factual world” account for the meteoric rise and final breakthrough of Nineteen Eighty-Four to the top of the bestseller lists in spring 2017.     

Compartmentalized minds: the Communist security services’ understanding of the Western espionage threat to the Communist bloc during the Cold War

ABSTRACT

Marxism-Leninism required the counter-intelligence officers of the East German Stasi and Soviet KGB to believe in a Western espionage threat to their states which was far greater and more malevolent than was actually the case. In fact, the two counter-intelligence staffs knew that the Western states were trying to create small agent networks on their territory, tasked only with collecting intelligence. This accurate understanding enabled them to contain Western espionage during the Cold War. They ‘compartmentalized’ their knowledge of the real Western espionage threat from their belief in a much greater threat. They believed in one, but knew of another.     

President Donald Trump: A Case Study of Spectacular Power

Donald Trump's election as president certainly startled many, though not all political observers. In this article, I offer my own observation that Mr Trump's election represents a developmental progression of America's electoral system from a political process to an entertainment process. The effect of the office of the president now is to distract and entertain. I will aim to convince readers that his election as America's president is not an anomaly, but rather represents how the politics of image and representation now work as an everyday event and should be treated as part of a reality that we should now take for granted.     

Jumping on the Trump Train or Ditching the Donald: Campaign Rhetoric and the 2016 Congressional Election

The 2016 general election presented an unusual challenge to Republican congressional candidates: whether to market one’s campaign as aligned with or against Donald Trump’s controversial candidacy. In this paper, we determine what district and member-level factors influence candidate endorsements of Trump for president. Second, we study if the endorsements hurt candidates on Election Day. We find that underlying political partisanship, as measured by Mitt Romney’s 2012 vote share in congressional districts, predicts much of incumbents’ support for Trump, and that candidates’ support did not harm them in the general election.     

Investigating the Connection Between Transit-Oriented Development and Displacement: Four Hypotheses

Transit-oriented development (TOD) has become a predominant planning model in many cities. However, although access to public transit is often seen as benefiting low-income groups, in some cities community groups have challenged TOD plans on the grounds that they could cause gentrification and displacement. Yet, empirical studies have found little evidence that gentrification actually causes displacement. This article examines the connection between TOD and displacement in urban areas and seeks to make sense of the apparent discrepancy between community opposition to TOD and the empirical findings on displacement. Four explanations are considered: methodological shortcomings in existing studies, insufficient attention to social and psychological forms of displacement, potential transportation cost savings, and use of TOD plans as a policy target. The fourth explanation is illustrated using an example from the San Francisco Bay Area of California. This article aims to synthesize literature on these previously separate topics and to illuminate paths for future research.     

Donald Trump,contempt, and the 2016 GOP Iowa Caucuses

ABSTRACT

Theories of discrete emotions distinguish contempt from other negative emotions, and recent evidence shows that contempt toward candidates played a major role in two US Senate races in 2014. Contempt felt by respondents was the most significant emotion predicting voting against three of the four major party candidates, and had effects independent of other emotions, such as anger, anxiety, and hope. In the present paper, the 2016 Republican Iowa Caucus provides the opportunity to examine contempt in a different context: an intra-party primary campaign, where candidates share the important characteristic of party affiliation. We find that while voters perceived all leading GOP candidates as expressing at least some contempt, Donald Trump was seen as expressing the most contempt by far. Voters also felt contempt for at least some candidates of their own party. When they did so, it predicts significantly lowered probabilities of voting for Cruz, Trump, and Rubio, and increased probabilities of voting for one or more of their opponents. Implications of these findings for theory and research on the role of contempt and other specific emotions in voting behavior are discussed.     

Coproduction of Government Services and the New Information Technology: Investigating the Distributional Biases

This article investigates how communications advances affect citizens’ ability to participate in coproduction of government services. The authors analyze service requests made to the City of Boston during a one‐year period from 2010 to 2011 and, using geospatial analysis and negative binomial regression, investigate possible disparities by race, education, and income in making service requests. The findings reveal little concern that 311 systems (nonemergency call centers) may benefit one racial group over another; however, there is some indication that Hispanics may use these systems less as requests move from call centers to the Internet and smartphones. Consistent with prior research, the findings show that poorer neighborhoods are less likely to take advantage of 311 service, with the notable exception of smartphone utilization. The implications for citizen participation in coproduction and bridging the digital divide are discussed.