Media + Presentations
Editorial and speaker topics include historical and contemporary analysis of intelligence, political violence, terrorism, propaganda, disinformation, informal diplomacy, secret elite networks, socio-political movements, and power structures. Here is a selected list of appearances.
Hänni provides expert commentary and political analysis for international and Swiss media outlets, including CBS 60 Minutes (USA), The Guardian (UK), ZDF (Germany), Neue Zürcher Zeitung (Switzerland), SRF (Switzerland), Middle East Eye (UK), The Diplomat (USA), Cicero (Germany), SWR (Germany), Le Point (France), Sol (Portugal), and Al Arabiya (Saudi Arabia). He is regularly invited to deliver addresses at universities, conferences, and other institutions, which include presentations of research results to policy makers and security officials.
Crypto AG
A joint investigation by SRF Rundschau (Switzerland), ZDF (Germany), and the Washington Post (USA) exposed a worldwide wiretapping operation by secret services centered around Crypto, a Swiss company. Hänni was interviewed on the Cryptoleaks spy scandal and the activities of foreign intelligence services in Switzerland.
NZZ
Switzerland
3 October 2019
“Wie Frankreich zu seinem Geheimabkommen mit dem Terroristen Abu Nidal kam”. Article exposing for the first time the full story of how the French government cut a secret deal with the terrorist Abu Nidal Organization (ANO).
OFFIZIERE.CH
SWITZERLAND
31 March 2019
“The Secret Clubs of Intelligence and Security Services: A Look behind the Scenes of Counter-terrorism Cooperation in Europe”. Article outlining the growing number of informal and secretive clubs that play a key role in European counter-terrorism cooperation through multilateral intelligence sharing and operative cooperation.
The Diplomat
USA
30 October 2018
"Why Does Pakistan’s Release of a Key Taliban Leader Matter?" Article on the peace negotiations between the United States and the Afghan Taliban.
CICERO
GERMANY
March 2017
“Die Gespenster des Toten Imams”. Article in the German monthly magazine Cicero on the case of Imam Musa Sadr or a four-decade feud that involves hijackings, kidnappings and an unresolved mystery.
Middle East Eye
UK
6 February 2017
"The case of Gaddafi's playboy son and the missing imam". The current fate of Hannibal Gaddafi has its origins in a four-decade feud that involves hijackings, kidnappings and an unresolved mystery. Article on the background of the December 2016 hijacking of Afriqiyah Airways 209.
REPUBLIK
SWITZERLAND
November 2020
“Das innerste Auge”; “Der Schattenmann der CIA”; “Die mysteriöse Schwesterfirma”. Adrian Hänni is cited in an article series in the Swiss online news magazine Republik (authored by Adrienne Fichter, Sylke Gruhnwald and Mehdi Atmani), which discusses new revelations on the control of Swiss encryption companies – Crypto AG, Infoguard, and Omnisec – by foreign intelligence services.
ASHARQ AL-AWSAT
UK
29 September 2020
“Turkish Spy Networks Raise Europe’s Concern”. Article in the English edition of the London-based Asharq al-Awsat, one of the largest Arab-language daily newspapers, about Turkish espionage activities in Austria – based on an interview with Adrian Hänni.
The Guardian
UK
6 September 2020
"How cold war spymasters found arrogance of Carlos the Jackal too hot to handle" by Jason Burke.
NZZ
Switzerland
14–15 November 2017
“Weltweit gesuchter Terrorist reiste regelmässig in die Schweiz – die erstaunliche Akte Abu Nidal”; “8 Millionen für die Ehefrau des gefürchteten Terroristen Abu Nidal”. Article series in the leading Swiss daily newspaper Neue Zürcher Zeitung written by Marcel Gyr and based on Adrian Hänni’s research outlining the activities of the notorious Abu Nidal Organization in Switzerland.
Al Arabiya
Saudi Arabia
25 September 2020
Interview to Raghida Bahnam on Al Arabiya about Turkish espionage activities in Austria.
SRF: Rundschau
Switzerland
24 June 2020
“Die Schweiz hörte mit: Neue Dimension im Fall Crypto”
Analysis of new revelations on Operation Rubicon, the “intelligence coup of the century.”
SRF: 10 vor 10
Switzerland
1 May 2020
“Fakecheck: Woher kommt das Coronavirus”
Interview about the propaganda narrative that SARS-CoV-2 escaped from a lab in Wuhan.
ZDF / 3sat: Kulturzeit
Germany
18 February 2020
“Adrian Hänni über die Neutralitätspolitik der Schweiz”
Interview about the effects of the Cryptoleaks affair on “neutral” Switzerland.
SRF: Club
Switzerland
18 February 2020
“Was lernen wir aus Cryptoleaks?”
Studio panel guest in a 75-minute live discussion on the Cryptoleaks spy scandal, Swiss neutrality, and the activities of foreign intelligence services in Switzerland.
SRF: 10vor10
Switzerland
13 February 2020
“Geheimdienstaffäre Cryptoleaks”
Interview on the Cryptoleaks spy scandal and the activities of foreign intelligence services in Switzerland.
SRF: Tagesschau
Switzerland
19 October 2018
“Nachrichtendienstchef spricht über russische Spione”
Interview on Russian spies in Switzerland and the Swiss intelligence service NDB.
SRF: 10vor10
Switzerland
17 September 2018
“Warum in der Schweiz so viel spioniert wird”
Interview on foreign espionage in Switzerland.
Radio SRF 1: HeuteMorgen
Switzerland
27 August 2020
Interview on the poisoning of Russian opposition politician Alexei Navalny and Russian poison attacks.
Violence and Its Histories
Australia
2019
Hänni appears in an episode of the podcast series developed by the Center for Study of Violence (CSoV) at the University of Newcastle, Australia, to discuss his work with Dr. Elizabeth Roberts-Pedersen.
History Talk
USA
31 July 2018
“From Cold War to War on Terror”
Discussion about the historical context for today’s war on terror and the Cold War precedents that help explain where we’re at today.
Vienna
Austria
26–28 November 2020
“Ein geheimes Propagandainstrument der Papstkirche: Radio Omegas Sendungen in die Sowjetunion im Kalten Krieg der 1960er Jahre” [A Secret Propaganda Tool of the Papal Church: Radio Omega’s Broadcasts to the Soviet Union during the Cold War of the 1960s”]. Invited by the University of Vienna to speak at the international conference “Hearing is Believing: Radio(-Programme) als strategisches Propagandainstrument [“Radio as a Strategic Propaganda Tool”].
Zurich
Switzerland
12 February 2020
“Über Grenzen hinweg: Transnationale politische Gewalt im 20. Jahrhundert” [Across Boarders: Transnational Political Violence in the 20th Century”]. Book presentation at the Archiv für Zeitgeschichte [“Archive for Contemporary History’] of the ETH Zurich.
Portland (OR)
USA
3–6 October 2019
Ein Raum der Revolution? Die Schweiz und ihre Bedeutung für linksextremistische Gewaltakteure aus der Bundesrepublik in den 1970er Jahren [“A Space for Revolution? Switzerland and Its Significance for Left-wing Extremist Violent Actors from the Federal Republic of Germany in the 1970s”]. Invited to speak at the German Studies Association (GSA) 43rd Annual Conference.
Fribourg
Switzerland
23–24 May 2019
La Commission pour l’Eglise Persécutée: Un acteur catholique transnational en lutte contre l’athéisme communiste (1951-1972) [“The Commission for the Persecuted Church: A Transnational Catholic Actor Fighting Communist Atheism (1951–1972)”]. Invited to speak at the international conference Communisme Christianisme: Convergences et Confrontations au 20e Siècle [“Communism Christianity: Convergences and Confrontations in the 20th Century”] by the Department of Contemporary History of the University of Fribourg.
Newcastle
Australia
10 August 2018
"It’s (not) the Cold War, Stupid: Why States Have Supported Terrorist Actors." Invited by the History Seminar Series at the University of Newcastle.
Berlin
Germany
10-12 May 2018
“‘Terrorist Diplomacy’: West European Intelligence Services and Secret Diplomacy with International Armed Groups during the Cold War”. Invited by the German Spy Museum to speak at the International Intelligence History Association (IIHA) Annual Conference 2019.
Zagreb
Croatia
16-17 March 2018
“International Cooperation in Preventing Terrorist Attacks on Critical Infrastructure: What Can We Learn From the Past?” Invited by the Zagreb Security Forum.
Budapest
Hungary
9–10 November 2017
"Intelligence services, front groups, and the Religious Cold War in Eastern Europe”. Invited by the Institute of National Remembrance (Poland), Hungarian Committee of National Remembrance, and the Centre for Cold War Studies at the University of Southern Denmark to speak at the international conference “Need to Know VII: The Hidden Hand of Intelligence”.
London
UK
16 March 2016
“A Transnational History of the ‘Cercle Pinay’, 1952-1991.” Invited by the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Washington DC
USA
20 January 2016
“Untangling Russia’s Puzzle: Past Lessons and Future Outlook.” Invited by the Inter-University Center for Terrorism Studies.
Leiden
Netherlands
16 November 2015
“‘Le Cercle’ in the Cold War: A Secret Space for Informal Diplomacy or Another Supper Club for Old White Men?” Invited by the Institute for History, Leiden University.