Paul McGarr

Trump’s Second Term and the Unravelling of India–US Ties Trump’s second term exposes the fragility of India–US ties and forces New Delhi to rethink strategic autonomy and alignment.

Thanks to Frontline, part of @thehindu.com, for carrying a piece I wrote on India in the Trump 2 era. Not easy to write given the pace at which events in India are evolving, viz. the US and EU.

See👇
frontline.thehindu.com/world-affair...

@warstudieskcl.bsky.social @dsdkings.bsky.social @kcsi.uk

How the United States Lost a Nuclear Device and Recovered an Indian Friend It started at a Washington cocktail party, when an Air Force general listened to a mountaineer describe the view from Mount Everest — and decided the

🚨 New publication – KCSI member Dr @paulmcgarr.bsky.social for @warontherocks.bsky.social on "How the United States Lost a Nuclear Device and Recovered an Indian Friend"

warontherocks.com/2026/02/how-...

How the United States Lost a Nuclear Device and Recovered an Indian Friend It started at a Washington cocktail party, when an Air Force general listened to a mountaineer describe the view from Mount Everest — and decided the

Thanks to @warontherocks.bsky.social for publishing my piece on a recent @nytimes.com article about a CIA/Indian intelligence operation that ended in the loss of a nuclear-powered surveillance device 👇
warontherocks.com/2026/02/how-...

@kcsi.uk @dsdkings.bsky.social @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

📖 Dr Paul McGarr (@paulmcgarr.bsky.social) recommends "Our Man in Havana" by Graham Greene (1958).

The best non-fiction books read by ThePrint columnists in 2025 From artificial intelligence and India’s development journey to debates on Hinduism, majoritarianism, and the Intelligence Bureau, these books captured the attention of ThePrint’s columnists in 2025.

Honoured Spying in South Asia makes the list of the best non-fiction books read by The Prints columnists in 2025. Humbled to feature alongside accomplished authors & amazing work. That's some bookshelf!

theprint.in/feature/the-...

@kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @universitypress.cambridge.org

How Did the C.I.A. Lose a Nuclear Device in the Himalayas? (Gift Article) A plutonium-packed generator disappeared on one of the world’s highest mountains in a covert mission that the U.S. will not talk about.

Wrote about this last year in Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States and India's Secret Cold War (Cambridge University Press, 2024)

www.cambridge.org/9781108843676

www.nytimes.com/interactive/...

‘Not your father’s Afghanistan': Is the West taking its eye off the…

🚨New publication in KCSI Insights — “‘Not your father’s Afghanistan’: Is the West taking its eye off the al-Qaeda ball?” by Graham Aikin

🔗 Link: kcsi.uk/kcsi-insight...

#KCSI

Andrew Muldoon (@arjm5184.bsky.social) reviews Paul M. McGarr's (@paulmcgarr.bsky.social) Spying in South Asia: Britain, the United States, and India’s Secret Cold War doi.org/10.1093/dh/d...

Visited Khan Market in Delhi today to call in at the institution that is Bahri Sons books. Great to see Spying in South Asia on the shelves. Better still, Bahri Sons had me sign copies that were sold straight on to customers! @warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk @universitypress.cambridge.org

Extremely grateful to Pratyaksh Sharma for his very generius and insightful review of Spying in South Asia
www.cambridge.org/9781108843676

"Spying in South Asia is a thorough and thought-provoking work" writes Pratyaksh Sharma of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's recent book, published by @universitypress.cambridge.org. Follow this link to read our latest book review ➡️ doi.org/10.1080/1833...

📚 Call for submissions: 2025 Polly Corrigan and Kjetil Hatlebrekke Book Prizes

The King’s Centre for the Study of Intelligence is pleased to open nominations for two distinguished awards celebrating excellence in intelligence and security studies.

📖 Support the next generation of intelligence scholars

KCSI offers expert insights, analysis, and research on how intelligence impacts urgent problems that we confront in the global security environment. Our work would not be possible without the support of grants and donations.

(1/5)

It’s early in the academic year, but I may have peaked. Yesterday, I led on the delivery of a new @warstudieskcl.bsky.social course, Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives, alongside Emergent Risk International. Engaging F2F with global business leaders was informative & huge fun.
@kcsi.uk

Learned a lot yesterday evening talking about challenges facing intelligence practitioners (state & private) to the @kingscollegelondon.bsky.social Business School Executive MBA class. Great to engage with highly impressive and vastly experienced business leaders. @kcsi.uk @warstudieskcl.bsky.social

It’s early in the academic year, but I may have peaked. Yesterday, I led on the delivery of a new @warstudieskcl.bsky.social course, Strategic Intelligence for Senior Executives, alongside Emergent Risk International. Engaging F2F with global business leaders was informative & huge fun.
@kcsi.uk

Received a nice surprise in the post today, the amazing new @georgetownup.bsky.social volume on Covert Action edited by the dream team of @magslong.bsky.social, Genevive Lester, @markstout.bsky.social, @dvanp.bsky.social & @rorycormac.bsky.social. Stellar contributors, though Chp 9 seems suspect😉

Privileged today to be invited to address the current senior leadership cadre at India’s National Defence College on intel in South Asia & as a determinant in foreign policymaking. Thks Maj Gen Samath Nagar & Air Marshal Hardeep Bains (Commandant) for asking me to engage with the latest NDC cohort.

India-US relationship has survived darker times. Intelligence ties bind us together India-US intelligence ties flourished even in the shadow of the Cold War, as New Delhi resolutely proclaimed its commitment to non-alignment.

Thks to praveenswami.bsky.social for noting my work on intelligence ties between India & the US in his excellent article in The Print. Agree that India-US intel ties will weather the latest squall btwn Delhi and Washington. theprint-in.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/theprint...
@warstudieskcl.bsky.social

Honored to see my review of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's Spying in South Asia on this week's #ScholarSunday thread.

@americanstudier.bsky.social every week I love seeing you highlight scholars and sharing word about their work. Thank you and please keep it up!

contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

The Search for Intelligence the intelligence individuals are less James Bond and George Smiley than bureaucrats

ICYMI: I wrote a review of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's excellent @universitypress.cambridge.org book Spying in South Asia for @contingent-mag.bsky.social

Here's a 🧵 about how the review came together and what was left on the cutting room floor.

contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

Thks to TheWire.in for noting some of my recent work on UK & US covert Cold War interventions in Kerala m.thewire.in/article/hist... With elections due in Kerala next year its timely to revisit the issue of electoral interference

@warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk @universitypress.cambridge.org

The Search for Intelligence the intelligence individuals are less James Bond and George Smiley than bureaucrats

During the Cold War, the US, UK, and USSR all had covert operations in India.

Were their efforts successful? No.
Were their efforts secret? Definitely no.

Read more about these covert operations, only in @contingent-mag.bsky.social

#india #security

contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

Dr @paulmcgarr.bsky.social draws on newly declassified British documents to reveal how, during the #ColdWar, India’s Congress government, the CIA & British intelligence took covert actions to undermine the Communist Party of India in #Kerala in the late 1950s.

Read more:
bit.ly/3JjPwe6

The Search for Intelligence the intelligence individuals are less James Bond and George Smiley than bureaucrats

The latest @contingent-mag.bsky.social essay is my review of @paulmcgarr.bsky.social's excellent book, Spying in South Asia @universitypress.cambridge.org

The book is a MUST READ especially for @shafrhistorians.bsky.social

#india #coldwar #skystorians

contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t...

Method in Trump's Pakistan romance: US' Gulf security Like Turkey and Egypt, Pakistan is one of a handful of powers with the human resources and infrastructure to help secure the Persian Gulf as Trump’s America draws down its military presence.

Intelligence history being put to good use in The Print India to contextualise recent "developments" in US relations with India and Pakistan. Appreciate the mention 🙏

theprint.in/opinion/secu...

@warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk @universitypress.cambridge.org

When Indian government, British intelligence and the CIA joined hands to spy on communists in Kerala Newly declassified British government documents cast important light on the complex system of cooperation and competition that characterised Western intelligence interactions with India during the Col...

Thks to @indianexpress.com for carrying a piece I wrote on newly declassified British intelligence files that reveal covert collaboration btw India & the UK in Cold War Kerala. The article is available here 👇

indianexpress.com/article/opin...

@warstudieskcl.bsky.social @kcsi.uk

The Search for Intelligence the intelligence individuals are less James Bond and George Smiley than bureaucrats

A review of Spying in South is out by @marcus1984.bsky.social in @contingent-mag.bsky.social contingentmagazine.org/2025/08/12/t.... Mark is a superb scholar & his critique is on point. If you don't read Contingent at present, you should. It's a non-profit history mag doing amazing work. Take a look

Sovereignty and Surveillance in Cold War India Paul McGarr opens his work with a reference from John le Carré’s Smiley’s People, recounting the brief meeting between George Smiley and his Soviet counter

Hugely grateful to @arjm5184.bsky.social for his very generous & insightful review of Spying in South Asia in @diplomatichistory.bsky.social. Andrew's meticulous assessment neatly captures the book's essence 🙏https://academic.oup.com/dh/advance-article/doi/10.1093/dh/dhaf052/8226034?searchresult=1

How Britain found itself at the heart of a CIA civil war An ex-Navy Seal and an agent for 30 years, Tom Sylvester was the ideal candidate for London station chief. Did someone get to him?

Spoke to @telegraphnews.bsky.social on the hiring & firing of US officials by the Trump admin. The piece covers the decision not to appoint Tom Sylvester as the next CIA station chief in London. In short, politicising intelligence is a VERY bad idea. Take a look👇 www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/08...