Spinning the Secrets of State Book Launch

Professor Clinton Fernandes, author of Island off the Coast of Asia will be joining in conversation with Justin McPhee.

Recording Available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pW61chNHupQ

Book available here: https://nibs.org.au/onlinebooks/2020/9/2/gr507sriq5n81btn6ms09zhetzmc6g

In order to critique our government, we must have an active understanding of how both the government operates and how the government tells us they operate. Secret operations that use manipulation to further a political cause hinder the public’s ability to be fully informed and actively involved. It seems inevitable that politics and intelligence collide and are weaponised. 

Spinning the Secrets of State addresses the questions: what is the purpose of an intelligent organisation and what happens when intelligence ceases to be impartial and is used as a political means to support a policy preference ? 

McPhee answered these questions by investigating historical case studies developed from assiduous research into previously classified archival documents, political papers, private correspondence and diaries to show how the secrets of state can be spun into a potent political weapon. 

In this revealing tour Justin T. McPhee considers the evolution of intelligence politicisation in Australia from before Federation in 1901 through to the modern era, providing a deep historical context in which to understand the convergence of intelligence and politics. 

Containing much new information, Spinning the Secrets of State offers an illuminating account of the secret inner workings of intelligence manipulation and the conditions that enable politicisation to arise. 

 An essential read for both the general observer and scholars interested in understanding why intelligence and politics seem fated to collide.