Resilient Intelligence in an Era of Democratic Backsliding
This programme is not yet final and is subject to change.
Day 1
2 december 2026
| 09.00 – 09.30 | Registration |
| 09.30 – 09.45 | Welcome |
| 09.45 – 10.30 | Keynote 1 Bart Jacobs (professor of Security, Privacy and Identity, Radboud University Nijmegen) |
| 10.30 – 11.00 | Break |
| 11.00 – 12.00 | Panel 1: Leadership Chair: Michael Kowalski – “Leadership, legitimacy, and the erosion of intelligence independence” – “Intelligence agencies as worldmakers and the struggle over ordering” – “Intelligence leadership during times of transition: Fulvio Martini and the Italian Military Intelligence and Security Service (SISMi) at the end of the Cold War (1989-1991)” |
| Panel 2: Professionalization Chair: Bas Rietjens – Balancing exploration and exploitation: studying innovation capabilities in Dutch intelligence and security organizations through participatory inquiry” – “Strengthening ethical competences of intelligence professionals: an exploration of experiences and their effects on the role of services as guardians of democracy” – “Emotional hijack and operational decision-making: rethinking training for intelligence and security professionals” | |
| 12.00 – 13.00 | Lunch |
| 13.00 – 14.00 | Panel 3: Interacting with academia Chair: Constant Hijzen – “The science-security nexus: conflicting imperatives in the governing of international science amid geopolitical competition” – “Dealing with intelligence services when researching their history” |
| Panel 4: Interacting with hybrid threats Chair: Sophie Harleman – “Resilient intelligence against hybrid threats: the Italian case (2015-2025) – “‘Old wine, faster bottling’: from AI-amplified influence to multi-domain early warning for hybrid threats” – “From source to analyst: the Admiralty Code and the issue of the acquisition criticism” | |
| 14.00 – 15.00 | Keynote 2 Rory Cormac (professor of International relations, University of Nottingham) |
| 14.45 – 15.15 | Break |
| 15.15 – 16.15 | Panel 5: Claiming authority Chair: Eleni Braat – “Disclosing intelligence, revealing the truth: Habermasochism and the French state’s quest for epistemic authority” – “European audience reception of authorised intelligence disclosure on hybrid threats” – “From secrecy to public policy: the evolution of the DGSE and French intelligence” |
| Panel 6: Interacting with technology Chair: Erik Elgersma – “Digitalization of intelligence and the arrangement of public accountability” – “Resilient oversight: strengthening democratic accountability in algorithmic public administration” – “Professionalization, technology and the predicament for intelligence analysis” | |
| 16.30 – 18.00 | The Hague espionage city walk |
| 18.00 | Diner |
Day 2
3 december 2026
| 09.00 – 09.30 | Registration |
| 09.30 – 10.15 | Keynote 3 Thorsten Wetzling (head research Unit ‘Digital Rights, Surveillance and Democracy, interface |
| 10.15 – 11.15 | Panel 7: Accountability Chair: Peter de Werd – “Legibility, secrecy, and democratic strain: intelligence oversight as public code in Canada” – “Suspicion without crisis? Intelligence accountability and counterterrorism in Germany and Italy” – Translations of intelligence: emerging roles of civil society in intelligence practices” |
| Panel 8: Violence and abuse Chair: Sylvie Bavelaar – “Governance weaknesses and vulnerabilities for the misuse of intelligence by the US government” – “How spyware market governance risks failing by design” | |
| 11.15 – 11.45 | Break |
| 11.45 – 12.30 | Keynote 4 Daniela Richterova, Associate Professor in Intelligence Studies at the Department of War Studies, King’s College London. |
| 12.30 – 13.00 | Closing remarks |