Sir Alex Younger died earlier this week at the age of 62. He had been fighting cancer for some time.
Alex was Chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, more popularly MI6) from 2014 to 2020. For most past and present MI6 officers, he was the best-loved Chief anyone had known.
One reason for this was that Alex had risen through the ranks. A good MI6 head does not need to have done so. But ther...
The narrative constructs Younger’s success around three pillars: operational experience, intellectual framework, and personal character. This pattern serves to legitimize a specific vision of intelligence leadership that balances gritty operational realism with abstract philosophical ideals. The emphasis on his ability to bridge the gap between traditional espionage (humint) and emerging technological threats (AI, hybrid conflict) functions as a powerful argument for evolving national security p...
