The Cold War Museum Speaker Series 2:00pm-5:00pm

January 12 - US Counterintelligence in the Cold War: Its Successes & Failures & Why

Counterintelligence (CI) is a hard but critically necessary discipline for a modern nation to learn. In the US, the FBI and the other intelligence services of the late 1930s faced a crucial need for CI in the face of World War II in Europe and the growing possibility of US involvement in that war. With much to learn, and much help from British intelligence and US cryptographic advancements, the FBI and its partners began to climb this steep learning curve.

The end of the war in 1945 didn't provide a pause in this, instead demanding that the Bureau and US intelligence put their hard-learned lessons to the newly revealed intelligence threat from the USSR. And in dealing with these emergent threats, FBI CI was able to mature and focus proactively on threats from hostile intelligence services.

This presentation discusses this evolution, considers the challenges, successes, and failures of the Bureau and its partners and raises some of the perennial issues in modern counterintelligence.

John F. Fox, Jr., has been the FBI Historian since 2003. He was awarded a PhD in modern American history from the University of New Hampshire in 2001 and an MA in political science from Boston College in 1993. His articles have appeared in a number of journals, the FBI’s website, and other venues. He has contributed chapters in several books and co-wrote The FBI: A Centennial History [GPO: Washington, DC, 2008]. Fox has been involved in several cooperative museum projects, including the temporary exhibit on the FBI and the media that was on display at the Newseum from June 2008 until June 2016. He has appeared in many documentaries in the US and Europe, on C-Span, CBS Sunday News, CNN, and Turner Classic Movies.

Agenda:
• 1:30-2:00. Participants arrive; they may get their beer or other drink at this time
• 2:00-2:10. Jason Hall, Executive Director of the Cold War Museum, introduces the Museum and John Fox.
• 2:10-3:30. John presents on U.S. Counterintelligence in the Cold War.
• 3:30-4:00. Q&A opportunity for the audience
• 4:00-5:00. The Museum (next door) will be open for event participants, with staff providing a tour for those interested.

Event seating at the brewery is limited, and many prior presentations have sold out well in advance, so we suggest that you secure your tickets promptly. Questions? Call or email Jason Hall, 703-283-4124 (cell), jason@coldwar.org