While visiting Berlin recently, I had the opportunity to conduct interviews with specialists for my podcast, “Life the Battlefield,” regarding the activities of the East German secret police, commonly referred to as STASI, in the realm of international espionage. An intriguing discovery was the unexpectedly uncomplicated factor behind their achievement:

Needless to say, the most effective agents and spies are those motivated by patriotism and ideology; these spies will go to any length for the cause they believe in. “Topaz” is the most dangerous GDR- STASI secret agent. During my schooling, training, and preparation to work in diplomatic security intelligence

Vacationing spies As a child, I fantasised about travelling to America while watching movies. I believe the majority of people still dream of that. While reading and researching for a podcast, I stumbled across this 1956 photo of BND travellers to the United States. She attracted my curiosity, and the

I was born in a time when you were told from birth what society’s core values are: that leadership is here to create a better future, that the police are here to protect us from criminals, the fifth column, traitors, saboteurs, and those who steal from workers, and that the

The most dangerous year of the Cold War. When I was approximately 11 years old, I heard elders say that the world was on the edge of another battle, this time a major one. As a child, I had little understanding of what a nuclear war or nuclear missiles were,