Admission requirements
This course is designed for the minor Intelligence Studies. It is not possible to follow single courses of this minor. You need to be enrolled in Usis for the minor to be accepted to this course. There are 75 places open for registration, on a first come first serve basis, where LDE students are given priority.
This course is also open for inbound exchange students if they wish to take the entire minor Intelligence Studies; it is not possible to take single courses from this minor. Exchange students must be admitted by the FGGA International Office prior to the start of the minor; priority will be given to direct exchange partners of FGGA. For more information about the application procedure for exchange students, please contact the FGGA International Office at international@fgga.leidenuniv.nl.
Description
During the past thirty years the so-called intelligence revolution that took place during the Second World War and the Cold War found its way into academic courses and literature. In many respects intelligence can no longer be called ‘the missing dimension’ of the history of international relations, even though many of its aspects and implications are still missing. This lecture series will put a spotlight on the ‘dark side’ of international relations and the hidden background issues that go on behind the sealed scenes of international relations.
This course will go into depth into the topics touched upon in the Introduction to Secret Affairs. Among others, special attention will be paid to negotiations, international cooperation, counter terrorism and counter intelligence. Furthermore, students will be challenged to use their own ‘spy-capacities’ and put themselves in the adversary’s position.
Course objectives
- The student is able to describe and interpret the possible role and influence of intelligence in international politics and is able to illustrate how states can use intelligence as an instrument of power;
- The student gains knowledge on historical and recent international cooperation between security- and/or intelligence agencies;
- The student is able to reflect on a so-called applied doctrine/proto-theory;
- The student develops writing skills and skills in regard to the academic use of sources;
- The student is able to work together in a group with other students.
Timetable
On the right side of the programme front page you will find links to the website and timetables, uSis and Brightspace.
Mode of instruction
7 lectures of 3 hours by instructors and guest lecturers.
Participation in lectures, discussions and exercises is required in order to obtain a grade.
Assessment method
Group assignment: 30%
30% of total grade
Resit not possible
Grade must be compensated
Final exam: 70%
70% of total grade
Grade must be 5.5 to pass the course
Resit possible
Resit will take the same form
Late hand in penalty: 1 minus per day, and after three days we do not accept the assignment any longer.
In the case of written assessment methods, the examiner can always initiate a follow-up conversation with the student to establish whether the learning objectives have been met.
Participation in lectures, discussions and exercises is required in order to obtain a grade.
The Course and Examination Regulation Security Studies and the Rules and Regulation of the Board of Examiners of the Institute of Security and Global Affairs apply.
Reading list
TBA on brightspace
Registration
Registration via MyStudymap is possible from Tuesday 15 July 2025 13:00h after registration for the entire minor. Register for every course via MyStudymap. Some courses of the minor have a limited number of participants, so register on time. Registration for the exam is mandatory.
Leiden University uses Brightspace as its online learning management system. After enrolment for the course in MyStudymap you will be automatically enrolled in the Brightspace environment of this course.
More information on registration via MyStudymap can be found on this page.
Please note 1: Registration for the resit of an exam is mandatory, this has to be done by the student and can be done from Monday 1 December 2025 until 10 days before the exam. Until 5 days before the exam you can email OSC and fill in a form.
Please note 2: guest-/contract-/exchange students do not register via MyStudymap but via uSis. Registration via uSis is possible from Thursday 17 July 2025 after registration for the entire minor.
Contact
Remarks
This course can only be taken as part of the minor Intelligence Studies.
All sessions will be in English. Exams and assignments need to be written in English.
Please be aware that resits will take place in January.