GCHQ is a famous British signals intelligence (SIGINT) agency perhaps best known for its work at Bletchley Park during WWII. The spy service decided to have its official history written – and chose a Canadian to do so!
In this episode, Borealis talks with John Ferris, a University of Calgary historian, who undertook the task.
About my guest John Ferris
John Ferris is a Professor of History at The University of Calgary, where he also is a Fellow at The Centre for Military and Strategic Studies. He received an MA (1980) and a PhD (1986) in War Studies, from King’s College, The University of London, United Kingdom.
He has published four books and sixty academic articles or chapters in books, on diplomatic, intelligence and military history, as well as contemporary strategy and intelligence. He comments in national and international media, on Canadian and American foreign and military policy, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, intelligence, and nuclear weapons.
Behind the Enigma: The Authorized History of GCHQ, Britain’s Secret Cyber-Intelligence Agency
The definitive history of GCHQ, one of the world’s most tight-lipped intelligence agencies, written with unprecedented access to classified archives.
For a hundred years GCHQ – Government Communications Headquarters – has been at the forefront of British secret statecraft. Born out of the need to support military operations in the First World War, and fought over ever since, today it is the UK’s biggest intelligece, security and cyber agency and a powerful tool of the British state.
About the host Phil Gurski
Phil Gurski is the President and CEO of Borealis Threat and Risk Consulting Ltd. and Programme Director for the Security, Economics and Technology (SET) hub at the University of Ottawa’s Professional Development Institute (PDI). He worked as a senior strategic analyst at CSIS (Canadian Security Intelligence Service) from 2001-2015, specializing in violent Islamist-inspired homegrown terrorism and radicalisation.
From 1983 to 2001 he was employed as a senior multilingual analyst at Communications Security Establishment (CSE – Canada’s signals intelligence agency), specialising in the Middle East.
Find out more about Phil Gurski

Are Russian mercenaries Africa’s counter-terrorism saviours?
Episode 265 – It is best to look a gift Russian mercenary in the mouth Fighting terrorists is hard work. Many countries have sought alliances, both political and military, to pool resources to engage in this struggle. In some cases, allies have been kicked out, only to be replaced by brutal criminal gangs – a.k.a….

Whither Iran and its threat to international security?
Episode 264 – Is Iran on the brink of collapse? If there is one country that has been at the forefront of terrorism and international meddling it is Iran. Since the revolution of 1979, in which a Shia fundamentalist regime replaced the monarchy, it has been a prime sponsor of terrorist groups such as Hamas,…

Are UAE actions in Africa helpful?
Episode 263 – The UAE is punching well above its weight in counter-terrorism, but to what end? The UAE is perhaps best known for its financial strength and glittering skyscrapers, including the Burj Al Khalifa, currently the tallest structure in the world. It is not generally known for its diplomacy or, more worryingly, counter terrorism…