Spy Way of Life

UNITED KINGDOM 27/01/2023

The Fitzroy Tavern, a London pub where corporate investigators spend a happy hour

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online explores a typical London pub, The Fitzroy Tavern, which has gradually become a favourite drinking hole of corporate investigators in the capital and further afield. [...]

UNITED STATES 20/01/2023

Potbelly Sandwich Shop provides respite for overwrought agents at FBI's New York field office

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens, where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits the Potbelly Sandwich Shop, where hard-pressed operatives from the FBI's New York field office cross paths and socialise in the hustle and bustle of Lower Manhattan. [...]

The Potbelly sandwich shop is always busy during the very short lunch breaks of the 2000 or so New York FBI employees.

RUSSIA 13/01/2023

Victor Pelevin, the novelist on Russian security elites' bedside tables

Across the world, spies have their own inside jokes and references, which give them a shared sense of belonging. Those can in turn shape the public's image of the intelligence world. In Russia, a writer shrouded in secrecy attracts the adoration - and occasionally the wrath - of the country's intelligence community, which he portrays with his own particular brand of subtle audacity. [...]

Russian novelist Victor Pelevin, author of numerous bestsellers published by Eksmo, has remained in the shadows since the late 1990s.

ASIA EUROPE MIDDLE EAST NORTH AMERICA 23/12/2022

Intelligence Online's spyware gift list for the holidays Free

Across the globe, after long months of hushed conversations and quiet meetings in secret hideaways, spies are working on their holiday shopping lists. This week, Intelligence Online looks into the Christmas-time tradecraft goodies on offer, from pop culture spy gear to big ticket items for the brave gift giver. [...]

The Intelligence Online editorial team's gift ideas.

NORWAY RUSSIA 16/12/2022

The Thon Hotel in Kirkenes: where spies come in from the cold

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online explores a small hotel close to the Norway-Russia border, where gatherings of Arctic experts are closely followed by the intelligence services. [...]

Gatherings of Arctic experts at the Thon Hotel in Kirkenes are closely followed by the intelligence services.

UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 09/12/2022

National Tailors, the Dubai ruling family's bespoke garment-maker

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online steps into the world of the Al Madani family's National Tailors in Dubai. The small boutique creates kanduras, the traditional United Arab Emirates dress for men, for the emirate's ruling Al Maktoum family and any prince, businessman or prominent figure close to the country's leadership. [...]

UNITED STATES 02/12/2022

Washington's private Cosmos Club: where CIA officials socialised and conducted confidential business

Declassified CIA files reveal the agency luminaries who mingled at the Cosmos Club, which was a spy refuge for decades. [...]

AUSTRALIA 25/11/2022

Teddy Picker's, the lavish Canberra cafe serving all day "brekky" loved by Australian spies

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online pushes open Teddy Picker's door, a unique yet typical cafe in Canberra where Australian intelligence officers like to feast on tasty local fare with their sources. [...]

BELGIUM 18/11/2022

The Fraternelle des Agents Parachutistes, a venue steeped in history for Belgian commandos and NATO generals

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online gets a glimpse into The Fraternelle des Agents Parachutistes in Brussels, where members of Belgium's special forces and senior NATO officials share drinks by the fireplace in this cosy venue inspired by traditional British gentlemen's clubs. [...]

The Fraternelle des agents parachutistes (FAP) in Ixelles (Belgium).

RUSSIA 11/11/2022

The Imperial Tailoring Co., Putin's bespoke tailor

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online steps into the plush interior of the Moscow store behind an empire of custom-made Kotwani suits, the must-have for any diplomat or politician wanting to play by the post-Soviet rule book. [...]

The Imperial Tailoring Co shop in Moscow.

IRAN UNITED ARAB EMIRATES 04/11/2022

Al Ustad Special Kabab, an Iranian hang-out officially approved by Dubai's crown prince

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online explores Al Ustad Special Kabab, a long-established Iranian eating place in Dubai's Old Town. Its clients include the inner circle of Crown Prince "Fazza", which makes it a favourite meeting place for diplomats, senior civil servants and businessmen looking for direct contact with the emirate's future ruler. [...]

The Al Ustad Special Kabab restaurant in Dubai.

UNITED KINGDOM 28/10/2022

In & Out Naval and Military Club perpetuates the tradition for the new generation

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits the In & Out Naval and Military Club in London, a much-loved haunt of the new generation of British army and intelligence officers. [...]

The In & Out Naval and Military Club in London.

CHINA 21/10/2022

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences' bar makes for Politburo observation box

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits a small bar on Beijing's Jianguomennei Street, just in front of the doors to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, a place where researchers mingle with those closest to the CCP's Politburo. [...]

Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, in Beijing.

IRAQ 14/10/2022

Barzanis rule over Kurdistan's tight-security Erbil Rotana hotel

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits the heavily guarded Erbil Rotana hotel in Iraqi Kurdistan where the region's key players cross paths and rub shoulders. [...]

RUSSIA 07/10/2022

Shokoladnitsa on Ilinka Street, a sweet retreat for Kremlin staff

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits Shokoladnitsa in Moscow, a simple cafe that serves as an annex and an anteroom to Russia's presidential administration. [...]

The Chokoladnitsa café, located at 19/13 Ilinka Street, near the presidential administration in Moscow.

ITALY 30/09/2022

Piazza di Pietra: a charming square steeped in secrets

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits Piazza di Pietra, an elegant square in Rome where master spies like to stroll and eat, sharing secrets along the way. [...]

Piazza di Pietra, in the heart of the Colonna district in Rome.

AZERBAIJAN 23/09/2022

From the Hyatt to the Landmark: hotels of choice of financiers on Azerbaijani oil and gas quest

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits the Landmark Hotel, an establishment highly prized by investors wanting to rub shoulders with Caspian oil and gas executives. [...]

CHINA UNITED STATES 16/09/2022

The King Cole Bar at the St. Regis Hotel, a hotbed of intrigue on Fifth Avenue

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens, where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits the luxurious King Cole Bar in New York, the birthplace of the Bloody Mary where celebrities, spies and occasionally sparring politicians like to meet. [...]

HONG KONG 09/09/2022

Yat Lok, Chinese spies' Michelin-starred Hong Kong hangout

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens, where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visits Yat Lok restaurant in Hong Kong, where security officers meet their local and foreign sources, and devour some of the best glazed geese in the city. [...]

FRANCE 02/09/2022

Café Max, cherished hangout of French corporate security directors, changes ownership

Across the globe, spies gather in inconspicuous dens, where they meet contacts and hold discreet conversations. This week, Intelligence Online visited Café Max, a favourite Parisian haunt of retired spies and senior police officers now running the security departments of France's largest companies, or working as corporate investigators. [...]

Barzan Holdings, Qatar's defence industry giant springing up out of the desert

Badr Jafar - the businessman 2.0 taking hold in the UAE