Interrogation in War and Conflict ─ A Comparative and Interdisciplinary Analysis

This edited volume offers a comparative and interdisciplinary analysis of interrogation and questioning in war and conflict in the twentieth century.

Despite the current public interest and its military importance, interrogation and questioning in conflict is still a largely under-researched theme. This volume’s methodological thrust is to select historical case studies from twentieth-century conflicts ranging from the First World War until the war in the Former Yugoslavia, and including the Second World War, decolonization, the Cold War, the ‘Troubles’ in Northern Ireland and international justice cases in The Hague. These case-studies were selected because they resurface previously unexplored sources on the topic, or revisit known cases which allow us to analyse the role of interrogation and questioning in intelligence, security and military operations, as well as in international justice, not only focusing on the methods used, but also raising awareness on other important issues. For example, how do intelligence, security, military and international justice institutions conceive of interrogation and questioning? How has this been put into practice in the twentieth century? What elements, such as languages, cultural differences, ethnicity and psychology, affect the conduct of interrogation and questioning and their outcome? What are the effects of the various approaches to interrogation on the institutions implementing them? What are the differences in approaches adopted in military interrogation and interviewing, interrogation for intelligence and security, and witness/suspect questioning in international justice settings? And again are there any differences in methods used by liberal states and dictatorial regimes, and in different situations, such as total war and counter-insurgency for example? And, most importantly, is the use of harsh methods allowed in the fight against enemies such as Nazi spies and terrorists? Do these methods work?
Written by a group of experts in a range of disciplines such as history, intelligence, psychology, law and human rights, and with a detailed introduction and conclusion by the editors, the chapters in this edited collection provide a study of the main turning points in interrogation and questioning in twentieth-century conflicts, with a broadly European perspective. This collection also looks for the first time at issues such as the extent of the use of harsh techniques (were these unusual cases or common practices?); the value of interrogation to military intelligence, security and international justice; the development of interrogation as a separate profession in intelligence; the use of harsh interrogation to suppress political dissent and as a form of punishment; the development of cross-examination techniques and their longer term implications; the effects of interrogation and questioning on ‘interviewees’; cultural, ethnic and linguistic issues, as well as the relationship of interrogation and questioning to wider society.

This book will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, strategic studies, counter-terrorism, international justice, history and IR in general.

Christopher Andrew is Professor of Modern and Contemporary History at the University of Cambridge and a former visiting Professor of National Strategy and the Harvard University. His recent books include The Defence of the Realm: The Authorised History of MI5 (2009), The Sword and Shield: The Mitrokhin Archive (1999) and the Secret History of the KGB (2000). He is a founding editor of Intelligence and National Security.

Simona Tobia is a lecturer in the School of Literature and Languages at the University of Reading. She is co-author, with Hilary Footitt, of War Talk: The Role of Foreign Languages in World War II (2012).