Aaron Bateman

Early cybersecurity: this declassified 1982 memo discusses potential Soviet exploitation of commercially provided computer database services

To keep the world’s data flowing, countries need to quickly fix broken undersea cables Over the last couple of years, damage to submarine cables in the Baltic Sea, the Pacific Ocean, and the Red Sea have raised anxieties worldwide about the vulnerabilities of subsea information networks.

To contend with accidental undersea cable breaks and possible sabotage, the United States and allies must expand their repair infrastructure, writes @aaronbateman.bsky.social.

"To keep the world’s data flowing, countries need to quickly fix broken undersea cables." ⬇️

Declassified memo from Gus Weiss on computer exports to China in the early 1980s

To keep the world’s data flowing, countries need to quickly fix broken undersea cables To contend with accidental undersea cable breaks and possible sabotage, the United States and allies must expand their repair infrastructure.

Stretching more than 1 million km, submarine cables serve as the global information highway. To keep data flowing in case of breaks, the U.S. and its allies must expand their repair infrastructure, explains @aaronbateman.bsky.social in a piece for @thebulletin.org.

thebulletin.org/2025/07/to-k...

To keep the world’s data flowing, countries need to quickly fix broken undersea cables To contend with accidental undersea cable breaks and possible sabotage, the United States and allies must expand their repair infrastructure.

My latest in the Bulletin: Subsea cables that carry over 95% of global telecommunications are inextricably linked with US national security, but they are vulnerable. I use lessons from the Cold War to recommend strategies for making them more resilient.
thebulletin.org/2025/07/to-k...

That time the US briefed senior Vatican officials on SDI as a measure to get the pope on the administration’s side. This declassified memo is the prelude to the first of multiple

Strategic Air Command “Concept of Deterrence”

Declassified memo for President Kennedy outlining command and control challenges

Returning to a classic

‘Like an academic’: private papers reveal John le Carré’s attention to detail Exclusive: Oxford’s Bodleian libraries to put archive items on display for first time, celebrating spy author’s ‘tradecraft’

www.theguardian.com/books/2025/j...

CALL FOR PAPERS: International Conference Need to Know XIV: In a world of mirrors. Intelligence and Disinformation, Cracow (Kraków), Poland, November 27-28, 2025

CALL FOR PAPERS: International Conference Need to Know XIV: In a world of mirrors. Intelligence and Disinformation, Cracow (Kraków), Poland, November 27-28, 2025

eng.ipn.gov.pl/en/news/1189...

Declassified CIA graphic from the 1980s that shows the Soviet military (and intelligence) presence abroad.

🧵 #VEDay80

Much has been made of the role of Bletchley Park and ULTRA during #WW2 yet the role of Britain's Secret Intelligence Service (SIS/MI6) was often underplayed.

⬇️ JIC chair Victor Cavendish-Bentinck noted SIS had "failed badly" initially and had been "saved" by ULTRA. #VEDay80

A new post at siginthistorian.blogspot.com looks at what can happen when two opposing sides are using the same cryptosystems.

“Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin” Soviet space tracking vessel, the largest of its kind

RPO Galore: the complex proximity operations of Kosmos 2581, Kosmos 2582, Kosmos 2583 and 'Object F' classified military Space (spy satellites) and Missiles

Another new blogpost, more (complex!) #Russian RPO:
" RPO Galore: the complex proximity operations of #Kosmos 2581, Kosmos 2582, Kosmos 2583 and 'Object F' "
sattrackcam.blogspot.com/2025/06/rpo-...

I thoroughly enjoyed chairing this panel showcasing excellent new work on space history in a global context. Definitely take a look at the fantastic work of these four scholars.

Excited to speak @shafrhistorians.bsky.social #shafr2025 this week - I'll present on Cuba & communications satellite regulation in the global Cold War

Honored to join the panel Empire, Security & Militarism in the Final Frontier w Andrew Ross, @rebeccacharbon.bsky.social, @aaronbateman.bsky.social

Haystack’s first heyday In the 1960s, an unexpected gift from the Air Force led Herb Weiss ’40 to develop an antenna that could track a speeding bullet 1,000 miles above Earth. And a radome Buckminster Fuller had helped…

Really interesting history on the MIT Haystack radar, an important tool for space surveillance and astronomy www.technologyreview.com/2025/06/24/1...

Update on National Archives at College Park - AHA Many AHA members have expressed alarm about a post on the National Archives website regarding restricted access to Archives II in College Park, Maryland. In a message on X (formerly Twitter), which we...

Many #NationalArchives researchers have expressed alarm about a NARA website post regarding restricted access to Archives II in College Park. NARA has clarified that research rooms will remain open to the public.

For details see www.historians.org/news/update-...

What a wonderful H-Net review for our own @aaronbateman.bsky.social 's Weapons in Space: Technology, Politics, and the Rise and Fall of the Strategic Defense Initiative Weapons in Space!

networks.h-net.org/group/discus...

Nice photo of one of the antennas at the National Security Agency's Stonehouse site in Ethiopia that was used until ~1977 to collect telemetry from Soviet spacecraft (among other intelligence activities)

A journalist asked me about some key books on the history of industrial labs in the US and elsewhere...I had a few ideas but I'm sure I missed some. Suggestions?
#HistSci

50 free copies of my article, "Hunting the Red Bear: Satellite Reconnaissance and the 'Second Offset Strategy' in the Late Cold War" are available here:
www.tandfonline.com/eprint/MG7WP...

The United States and Greenland, Part I: Episodes in Nuclear History 1947-1968 Washington, D.C., June 3, 2025 - The Trump administration’s intention to acquire Greenland, including possibly by force, has put a focus on the history of its strategic interest to U.S. policymakers. ...

New from the National Security Archive

nsarchive.gwu.edu/briefing-boo...

Promotional image for the MIT Press attending ICRA (IEEE International Conference on Robotics & Automation) 2025. The background is blue and features three book covers, "Machine Learning in Production," "Soft Robotics," and "Understanding Deep Learning."

As technology transforms our world, our books and journals explore the many questions, hopes, and fears that arise in this new era of automation and AI. Visit us at booth #928 during #ICRA2025 for the latest on #machinelearning, #AI, and #robotics: mitpress.mit.edu/icra2025/

Congratulations, @aaronbateman.bsky.social for the super review: "Weapons in Space makes a significant contribution to the current debate on the benefits and drawbacks of
space exploitation for military purposes."

We agree!

issforum.org/ISSF/PDF/RE1...

This is a really interesting (and rare) declassified document on the effects of Soviet communications security on U.S. ocean surveillance in the 1970s.

This open access article by Mary Bridges on the infrastructural turn in historical scholarship is really fantastic. Highly recommend.

www.cambridge.org/core/service...

The National Security Archive is always looking for interns. Help support our mission by applying now. See our jobs and internships page here: nsarchive.gwu.edu/jobs-interns...