Nicholas Dujmovic, Ph.D. Headshot

Department

  • Politics
  • School

  • School of Arts and Sciences
  • Expertise

  • CIA
  • U.S. Intelligence History
  • Covert Action
  • Espionage
  • The Hunt for Osama Bin Laden
  • Current issues in U.S. intelligence
  • Ethics and Accountability of Intelligence
  • CIA Memorial Wall
  • CIA death cases
  • Intelligence Studies
  • Related Experience

    Former career intelligence officer at CIA (26 years); former CIA deputy chief historian; former editor of the President’s Daily Brief; contributor to CIA professional journal Studies in Intelligence;  visiting fellow at the National Security Institute at George Mason University. 

    In the Media

    Publications

    • Reagan, Intelligence, Casey, and the CIA: A Reappraisal

      There are three myths about Ronald Reagan as an intelligence consumer:  that he was ignorant and cared little about intelligence; that he read little of it; and that he got most of his intelligence as President through videos produced for him.  This article, published in the International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, uses new intelligence-specific findings that refute these myths and show that Reagan knew quite a bit about intelligence, read it voluminously in printed form, and relied very little on video productions.

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    • 'Drastic Actions Short of War': The Origins and Application of CIA’s Covert Paramilitary Function in the Early Cold War

      This paper, published in the Journal of Military History, describes the origins of the covert paramilitary function in the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and the challenges to the effectiveness of paramilitary operations during the Cold War’s first decade. This capability did not develop by design or initiative on the Agency’s part but was assigned to it. 

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    • Amnesia to Anamnesis: Commemoration of the Dead at CIA

      Published in Studies in Intelligence, this article explores how the CIA has struggled over the years regarding the proper commemoration of those who die in its service. 

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    • The Literary Spy: The Ultimate Source for Quotations on Espionage & Intelligence

      The Literary Spy: The Ultimate Source for Quotations on Espionage & Intelligence

      A unique view of the intelligence world through the words of its own major figures (and those fascinated with them) from ancient times to the present. CIA speechwriter and analyst Charles E. Lathrop (pen name) has compiled and annotated more than 3,000 quotations from such disparate sources as the Bible, spy novels and movies, Shakespeare’s plays, declassified CIA documents, memoirs, TV talk shows, and speeches from U.S. and foreign leaders and officials.

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