The public has a unique opportunity to meet and mix with the top people in the world of intelligence at the 7th Raleigh Conference August 24-26 held at the NC Museum of History. The conference speakers, authors and special guests remain throughout the event and make themselves available to attendees.
Recent NSA and CIA director Michael Hayden will discuss how we killed Usama Bin Laden; Michael Sulick, recently director of the CIA’s National Clandestine Service (the “spy side” of the agency); Brian Kelley, the CIA counterintelligence officer the FBI mistook to be the mole Robert Hanssen; Nigel West, the former Member of Parliament, intelligence expert and author; and Dan Mulvenna, former security officer for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police will make presentations beginning Thursday August 25 following the opening reception Wednesday evening August 24.
The theme is Spies Among Us, how espionage agents are infiltrated into foreign nations under false names with no official cover, a key spy tradecraft strategy that goes back to the earliest espionage efforts up to today — for example the ten Russian “illegals” who were deported from the United States in 2010.
Michael Hayden agreed to change the topic of his keynote address based on the intervening termination of Usama Bin Laden. As chief of NSA from 1999-2005, he supervised surveillance of technical communications between terrorist groups worldwide. As director of CIA from 2006 to 2009, Hayden defended information gathered by extreme interrogation. The success of the Bin Laden operation was the result.
There is more. Respected intelligence author David Wise will discuss his new book Tiger Trap: America’s Secret War With China, a thorough and telling investigation of China’s espionage successes against the US, making the People’s Republic the nation’s number one spy threat.
Veteran journalist Douglas Waller will provide details and revelations from his new book Wild Bill Donovan, a complete biography that draws on recently declassified documents revealing new details on the life and times of the “spymaster who created the OSS and modern American Espionage.”
Former CIA operative Kent Clizbe will talk about his new book Willing Accomplices that addresses the impact of Soviet cultural propaganda on American institutions — including the media, academia and the entertainment industry.
And journalist Bill Gertz, who pens the Inside The Ring column for the Washington Times, will join the Roundtable to discuss his latest books on defense, intelligence and national security.
Books by guest authors and speakers are displayed and space set aside for book inscriptions and one-on-one conversations.
A group of CIA officers representing the agency’s Historical Collections Division will attend as special guests of the conference and provide — at no charge — color booklets (some with DVDS) containing recently declassified documents that clarify key Cold War events and operations, including the Korean War, Air America and the Warsaw Pact.
The conference kicks off Wednesday evening August 24 with a reception at a Raleigh restaurant for speakers. On Thursday August 25 conference speakers present four sessions, followed by a gala that evening at an area club. On Friday August 26, the day opens with an Author’s Roundtable featuring the conference’s guest writers followed by the keynote address on the Bin Laden operation by Michael Hayden at 11:00 AM.
Go to www.raleighspyconference.com for the complete schedule and to register. You may also call Raleigh Metro Magazine at 919-831-0999 or contact cyndi@metromagazine.net.
The Raleigh Spy Conference is presented by Bernie Reeves and Raleigh Metro Magazine.
Raleigh Spy Conference • August 24-26, 2011 • www.raleighspyconference.com