This interview was included in the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE) Monthly Interview Series.
Interview
Introduction:
Known as one of the world’s leading research scholars in Russian and Soviet
intelligence history, we are very honored to have Dr. Kovacevic in this month’s
Intelligence Education Interview Series. In this compelling interview, Dr.
Kovacevic discusses his professional and academic path providing insight into
his expertise and journey of documenting Russian and Soviet Intelligence
history, and his latest works including the article “Resisting the KGB
Mythmakers: Willy Fisher, Spy Fiction, and the Myth of Rudolf Abel” (2024), and
provides insight into his highly anticipated book for 2025, KGB Literati:
Spy Fiction and State Security in the Soviet Union (forthcoming with the
University of Toronto Press in October 2025).
As an avid
reader of Dr. Kovacevic’s various works, some of which are available on his
website, The Chekist Monitor, I was thrilled to attend his recent lecture, “Soviet/Russian
State Security PR Projects from Lenin to Putin”, and am eager for him to share
his area of expertise with our readers. Dr. Kovacevic, we thank you once again
for participating in the Intelligence Education Interview Series and hope that
your research impact in the field of intelligence studies will inspire our
members, as you have inspired me and so many others in your more than
two-decade-long university teaching career.
Question
1). Let’s start with the basics. How would you like to present yourself to the
International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE)?
I consider myself an
innovative and meticulous researcher and a discoverer of the unknown about the
little-known through open and archival sources of information. I am committed
to bringing out the intentionally obscured and hidden voices from the past into
our contemporary discourse in intelligence studies. We can learn so much from
historical research because of the repetitive patterns in intelligence and
counterintelligence practices and the unbroken continuities in intelligence
cultures. My work is focused on revealing and writing about the up-until-now
unknown operations and personnel from the KGB files. The details of such
operations are jealously guarded by the current masters in the Kremlin – all
former KGB officers – and so what I do is not without a certain amount of risk.
Question
2). Can you share with our readers what inspired you to pursue the field of
intelligence?
I like to
uncover secrets, and there are so many in the secret world of spies and
counterspies. It’s like being an archeologist. Your focus is on documented
stories rather than artifacts in the ground. However, you have to dig and dig
and travel around the world to find all the clues to complete the puzzle. Every
intelligence story is like a puzzle, and it’s rare that you can find all the
missing pieces. However, some of the documents I uncovered have never been
heard about before. For instance, I discovered the transcript of a meeting of
KGB counterintelligence leadership in 1955. The top-ranking KGB generals, who
were just names up to that point, began speaking in their own voice. You could
even discern their character traits from the way they articulated certain
things.
My
analysis of this transcript was later published by the Wilson Center, and
interested readers can find it here:
https://www.wilsoncenter.org/publication/inside-look-soviet-counterintelligence-mid-1950s.
Question
3). Dr. Kovacevic, you have extensive experience in the field, both
professionally as a geopolitical analyst and academically as a professor. Can
you share with our readers what makes a great analyst?
Intellectual
curiosity and willingness to incorporate new insights into whatever you are
analyzing. Ideological fixation is the death of all accurate analysis. You’ve
got to be open for the unexpected. And you will be surprised. Things are rarely
what they seem on the surface. Intelligence officers are excellent manipulators
of the human mind, so you’ve got to be careful not to fall into their trap.
Question
4). On the importance of documenting Russian and Soviet intelligence history,
what role would you say these pieces play in modern-day intelligence studies?
They play
a very important role because the current Russian intelligence culture is a
close reflection of the Soviet KGB intelligence culture. The personnel names
are different, but the anti-foreigner (not only anti-Western) orientation and
conspiratorial mentality have remained the same. Many of the current SVR and
FSB officers had their fathers and grandfathers (and sometimes even their
mothers and grandmothers) employed in the KGB. So we have direct family lines
going back into the past. In addition, the educational institutions and
operational teaching materials created by the KGB have stayed basically
unreformed in post-Soviet Russia, and that is why I am currently engaged in a
significant investigative study of KGB educational practices. The Chekists –
the collective self-designation of Soviet and Russian state security and
intelligence officers - still aspire to
change the world and model it in their own image, which is neither democratic
nor liberal.
Question
5). Dr. Kovacevic, you have over twenty years of experience as an educator. How
do you see the future of intelligence and analysis, and how should educators
orient themselves? (for example, curriculum).
I am
optimistic about the future of intelligence analysis in the West, but, of
course, safeguards need to be put in place to prevent the corrosive influences
of contemporary political polarizations from seeping into the intelligence
community. Western intelligence and counterintelligence officers must be
committed to seeking objective truth rather than to any political party
affiliation. The same goes for intelligence educators. We need to be guiding
lights for our students and teach them the importance of empathy and working
together to confront both internal and external challenges. And it is likely
that there will be many challenges in the years ahead. Not only violent
conflicts and wars, but also potentially new diseases and catastrophic weather
patterns leading to mass population displacements.
Question
6). In your most recent publication, the research article “Resisting the KGB
Mythmakers: Willy Fisher, Spy Fiction, and the Myth of Rudolf Abel” (2024), you
detail the life and myth surrounding Soviet intelligence officer Willy Fisher
and the extensive efforts by the KGB to bury him under the name of Rudolf Abel.
Can you share with our readers what your study reveals regarding the Soviet
Union and its intelligence officers?
One of the
major insights from this study is that for Soviet and Russian intelligence
officers, no matter how accomplished certain individuals may be (and
Fisher-Abel was one of their most successful spies), they are still just cogs
in the machinery of state security and must be forced to think of themselves as
such. And if they want to voice their independence and assert their autonomy,
even minimally, they get crushed by their colleagues. For instance, Willy
Fisher was even buried under the false name of Rudolf Abel (the name of his
Soviet intelligence colleague and friend who died earlier) and it was only
after the desperate protests of his wife and daughter that the KGB chairman
Yuri Andropov allowed the addition of his real name to the fake name on his
tombstone.
Question
7). What work do you believe most represents your professional life, and what
can future analysts, researchers, and intelligence practitioners learn from it?
(For example: documenting Russian and Soviet Intelligence history, can you
share the most valuable lessons you have learned from documenting these pieces
of history? And what motivated you to create the Chekist Monitor?
I don’t
think I can point to any work in particular but invite the readers to read all
of my research works in their totality. What they will learn is that Russian
intelligence and counterintelligence services are a serious and dangerous
adversary, but also that they are not without their weaknesses. And their
biggest weakness is their toxically hierarchical interpersonal relations. The
respect for individual accomplishments is not emphasized, and the collective is
put far above the individual. And they are brutal in dealing with dissent, both
internally and externally.
The reason
I created The Chekist Monitor was to share interesting vignettes and episodes
from my ongoing archival research with my readers. I like to tell the secret
tales from KGB archives and found this digital outlet to be the most convenient
way to do so.
Question
8). What advice or suggestions would you give our readers/students who are
interested in the field of intelligence? Where should they start?
My main
suggestion is to start in the archive, in any archive of any intelligence
service. There are digital archives with thousands of unexplored declassified
documents—the CIA Crest, the FBI Vault, etc. Also, become an avid filer of the
Freedom of Information (FOIA) requests. Though my experience with FOIA is
mixed, and sometimes it literally takes several years to get any documents from
intelligence agencies, you never know what will come your way. Remember that
primary sources are the sine qua non of any good research. Everything else is
derived and dependent on somebody else’s interpretation. Be your own person in
your investigations. Discover your own archival treasure.
Question
9). Dr. Kovacevic, in your highly anticipated book KGB Literati: Spy Fiction
and State Security in the Soviet Union (forthcoming in October 2025). Can
you share with our readers what lessons you hope they will take with them when
reading your book?
My book is
about spy fiction written by KGB officers, and it is the first book on this
subject matter in any language, including Russian (and I hope it will be
translated worldwide). Why is the focus on spy fiction by intelligence officers
so important? It is not just entertainment, but it can also illuminate the work
of clandestine government organizations and their relations to the societies
where they operate in very vivid and intricate ways. At this particular time,
spy fiction written by KGB officers is especially relevant because it reflects
KGB mentality, norms, and values –in other words, KGB culture – and the
present-day Russia is run by former KGB officers. Therefore, analyzing KGB spy
fiction can provide relevant insights into understanding the motivations and
goals of contemporary Russian foreign and security policies and actions. KGB
Literati will be published by the University of Toronto Press, and I invite
readers of this interview to read it and send me their feedback.
Question
10). Lastly, can you share with us five keywords that represent you?
Curiosity,
innovation, courage, persistence, and pedagogy.
