Joseph Fitsanakis

Contact Joseph Fitsanakis

843-349-6618 jfitsanak@coastal.edu

Brittain Hall 231

Spring 2023 Office Hours
Tuesdays 1:30 - 3:00pm & 4:30 - 5:30pm
Thursdays 1:30 - 3:00pm
*Please email for an appointment. 

Biography

Joseph Fitsanakis, Ph.D., is professor of Intelligence and Security Studies at Coastal Carolina University, where he also serves as director of the Intelligence Operations Command Center. He is a member of the Academic Security and Counter Exploitation program and manages Coastal Carolina University’s Educational Partnership Agreement with the United States National Security Agency. He also serves as regional vice president for the South Carolina chapter of the InfraGard Members Alliance, a Federal Bureau of Investigation initiative for the protection of the United States’ critical infrastructure. Dr. Fitsanakis has published widely on intelligence collection, information security, cyber security, and sub-state political violence, among other topics. He has also published comparative research on intelligence agencies in southern Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, and Southeast Asia, focusing on China and North Korea. His recent scholarly publications include the books Aspects of Islamic Radicalization in the Balkans After the Fall of Communism (Peter Lang 2023, co-edited), Redesigning Wiretapping: The Digitization of Communications Interception (Springer 2020) and Intelligence Beyond the Anglosphere: Mediterranean and Balkan Regions (RIEAS 2017, co-edited). Dr. Fitsanakis is deputy director of the European Intelligence Academy and senior editor at intelNews.org, an ACI-indexed scholarly blog that is cataloged through the United States Library of Congress. Since joining Coastal Carolina University in 2015, Dr. Fitsanakis has repeatedly received the University-wide Distinguished Professor of the Year Award, the Edward College John B. Durrell Award, and the Professor of the Year Award for the Departments of Politics and Intelligence and Security Studies.

Education 

Ph.D., The University of Edinburgh 
M.Sc., The University of Edinburgh
B.Soc.Sc., The University of Birmingham
G.E.C, Exeter College

Interesting Facts

Dr. Fitsanakis has worked as a comic book artist, was detained by border guards in the Soviet Union, taught the cousin of Britney Spears, shared a plate of French fries with Sylvester Stallone, joked about facial hair with Sir Sean Connery, and once had a few stiff drinks with a group of animal herders in the Arctic Circle.

Teaching Areas

Intelligence collection, intelligence operations, intelligence dissemination, intelligence in the Cold War, national security, terrorism and political violence, applied intelligence analysis, intelligence methods, inclusion and diversity in intelligence and national security

Research Areas

Intelligence collection, human intelligence, communications interception, information security, cyber-espionage, Southern European intelligence agencies, Southeast Asian intelligence agencies, African intelligence agencies, political violence, information operations, privacy

Program Affiliations

Intelligence and Security Studies

Women’s and Gender Studies

Intercultural Language Resource Center