Manufacturing Memory: Historical Revelation as State Threat
Project Live
PROJECT TEAM
Matthew Redhead
Lead investigator and author
Matthew Redhead is a Senior Associate Fellow at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) and a senior SOC ACE associate. He began his career in banking and management consultancy before serving at the Ministry of Defence and the Home Office. He later held senior financial crime risk roles at HSBC, including global head of strategic intelligence.
Matthew studied history at undergraduate and postgraduate level at the universities of St Andrews, Oxford and London.
PROJECT SUMMARY
This project examines how states use historical material to justify action and as part of wider information and influence operations. It explores an under-examined form of state threat in which historical narratives are selectively constructed, altered and deployed to influence perceptions, undermine opponents and weaken the resilience of target societies.
While governments and policymakers increasingly focus on contemporary disinformation and foreign interference, the use of history for similar purposes has received less attention. This project addresses that gap by examining how the manipulation of historical material can operate over the longer term and acquire authority through its apparent basis in the past.
The project examines methods including the selective release of archival material, removal of documentary context, internal redactions and forgeries. It also considers how historical reputations can be attacked and how historical fiction, film and television can influence cultural assumptions and psychological resilience.
Using published research, official statements and documented cases, the project asks:
How do states use historical material to justify action and support wider information and influence operations?
How are archival material, documentary evidence and historical reputations selectively manipulated?
How can historical narratives be used to influence cultural assumptions and the resilience of target states?
To what extent are generative AI and deepfake technologies being used in this activity?
How can policymakers, practitioners and researchers develop a shared understanding of this form of state threat and strengthen whole-of-society resilience?
The briefing forms part of SOC ACE’s work on state threats, alongside Old Wine, New Bottles? The Challenge of State Threats (2025), the state threats briefing and synthesis series and the forthcoming Weathering the Storm? Policy Responses to State Threats.
PUBLICATIONS
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Redhead, M. R. (2025). Old wine, new bottles? The challenge of state threats (SOC ACE Research Paper 32). Serious Organised Crime and Anti‑Corruption Evidence (SOC ACE), University of Birmingham.
Media & Events
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