Last year, Marian Zulean (University of Bucharest) and I published an article on intelligence sector reforms in post-communist Romania in the prestigious Surveillance & Society. The journal recently decided a post blog would help to draw attention to this article. Thank you, Torin Monahan, for taking the time to promote our work!
“Democratic control over intelligence agencies in Central and East Europe is important because surveillance was widespread until 1989 under the communist regime. Although post-communist Romania has become a liberal democracy and a NATO and European Union member, it’s important to evaluate intelligence sector reforms in that country not only in terms of personnel and operations but also in terms of respect for fundamental human rights. In addition, in the context of the recent debates on the rise of illiberalism in Europe, the Romanian case is of particular interest because of the collusion between a corrupt kleptocracy that seeks to capture the state apparatus and self-serving intelligence agencies that claim the anticorruption fight represented a “tactical field” of their activity.”
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