Daniele Ganser (born 29 August 1972, in Lugano) is a Swiss author and conspiracy theorist. He is best known for his 2005 book ''NATO's Secret Armies'', an adaption of his 2001 dissertation.

Background

His father Gottfried Ganser-Bosshart (1922–2014), whose parents were

Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...

, was a

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

of the Federation of Swiss Protestant Churches (SEK). His mother Jeannette Ganser was a

nurse Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health c ...

. He has a sister named Tea.''Illegale Kriege: Wie die NATO-Länder die UNO sabotieren. Eine Chronik von Kuba bis Syrien''
p. 6 Daniele Ganser was a senior researcher at the ETH Zurich,

Center for Security Studies (CSS) The Center for Security Studies (CSS) is a center at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, which focuses on Swiss and international security. Overview The center was founded by Prof. Dr. Kurt Spillmann in 1986 and has been led ...

. He was president (2006–2012) of the Swiss branch of the "Association for the Study of Peak Oil and Gas" (ASPO), and taught a course (2012–2017) titled ''History and Future of Energy Systems'' at the

University of St. Gallen A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

Writing career

''NATO's Secret Armies''

In 2004, Ganser published ''NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe''. In this book, Ganser states that

Gladio Operation Gladio is the codename for clandestine "stay-behind" operations of armed resistance that were organized by the Western Union (WU), and subsequently by NATO and the CIA, in collaboration with several European intelligence agencies during ...

units were in close cooperation with NATO and the

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...

and that Gladio in Italy was responsible for terrorist attacks against the Italian civilian population. Security analyst

John Prados John Frederick Prados (January 9, 1951 – November 29, 2022) was an American author, historian, and wargame designer who specialized in the history of World War II, the Vietnam War, and current international relations. Early life and education ...

observed that Ganser presented evidence that Gladio networks amounted to anti-democratic elements across many nations.

Beatrice Heuser Beatrice Heuser (born 15 March 1961 in Bangkok), is an historian and political scientist. She holds the chair of International Relations at the University of Glasgow. Heuser has a B.A. in History from Bedford College, a M.A. in International Hi ...

praised the book while also commenting Ganser's book would have been improved by the author using a less

polemic Polemic () is contentious rhetoric intended to support a specific position by forthright claims and to undermine the opposing position. The practice of such argumentation is called ''polemics'', which are seen in arguments on controversial topic ...

al tone and had occasionally conceded problems with the

Soviets Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in ...

. The

political scientist Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and la ...

Markus Linden said that Ganser fostered

anti-Americanism Anti-Americanism (also called anti-American sentiment) is prejudice, fear, or hatred of the United States, its government, its foreign policy, or Americans in general. Political scientist Brendon O'Connor at the United States Studies Centr ...

under the label of

Peace Research Peace and conflict studies is a social science field that identifies and analyzes violent and nonviolent behaviours as well as the structural mechanisms attending conflicts (including social conflicts), with a view towards understanding those pr ...

, while he unilaterally presented Russia positively. Critics charged that the book failed to provide proof or an in-depth explanation of a conspiracy between NATO, the United States, and European countries. Peer Henrik Hansen criticized Ganser for basing his claim on the

US Army Field Manual 30-31B ''U.S. Army Field Manual 30-31B'' is a document claiming to be a classified appendix to a U.S. Army Field Manual that describes top secret counterinsurgency tactics. In particular, it identifies a "strategy of tension" involving violent attacks w ...

which members of the intelligence community claim is a " Cold War era hoax document." Philip H.J. Davies concluded that the book is marred by imagined

conspiracies A conspiracy, also known as a plot, is a secret plan or agreement between persons (called conspirers or conspirators) for an unlawful or harmful purpose, such as murder or treason, especially with political motivation, while keeping their agree ...

, exaggerated notions and misunderstandings of covert activities and operations within and between the countries, and a failure to place their decisions and actions in the appropriate historical context. Davies argued that Ganser did not perform the most basic necessary research to be able to discuss them effectively. Olav Riste of the Norwegian Institute for Defence Studies mentions several instances where his own research on the stay-behind network in Norway was twisted by Ganser. Riste and Leopoldo Nuti concluded that the book's "ambitious conclusions do not seem to be entirely corroborated by a sound evaluation of the sources available." Lawrence Kaplan commended Ganser for making "heroic efforts to tease out the many strands that connect this interlocking right-wing conspiracy", but also argued that connecting the dots required a stretch of facts. Kaplan believes that some of Ganser's theories may be correct, but they damage the book's credibility. John R. Schindler wrote: "With few exceptions, specialists in the history of intelligence considered Ganser’s book to be a shoddy work of scholarship. In the first place, he made no effort to hide his biases, noting that he considered CIA covert action to be “terrorist in nature.” Then there was the problem that Ganser was making incendiary assertions he could not prove, as he himself admitted to “not being able to find any official sources to support his charges of the CIA’s or any Western European government’s involvement with GLADIO.”" Daniele Ganser was shown as expert in the German TV

documentary film A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in te ...

''Stay Behind: Die Schattenkrieger der NATO'' by Ulrich Stoll about

stay-behind In a stay-behind operation, a country places secret operatives or organizations in its own territory, for use in case an enemy occupies that territory. If this occurs, the operatives would then form the basis of a resistance movement or act as sp ...

armies which was broadcast on

ZDFinfo ZDFinfo is a German free-to-air documentary television channel owned by ZDF. It was launched on 27 August 1997 as ZDFinfokanal, and later rebranded as ZDFinfo on 5 September 2011. On 1 May 2012, a high-definition simulcast Simulcast (a po ...

in 2014.

Later work

Ganser calls into question the conclusions of the 9/11 Commission. He also promotes

skepticism Skepticism, also spelled scepticism, is a questioning attitude or doubt toward knowledge claims that are seen as mere belief or dogma. For example, if a person is skeptical about claims made by their government about an ongoing war then the p ...

of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. Americanist Michael Butter calls Ganser the "best-known

conspiracy theorist A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

in the

German-speaking German ( ) is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a ...

world". His public doubts about the "official version" of the

9/11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commerci ...

had led to the termination of his university activities. In 2023, Gansers

presentation A presentation conveys information from a speaker to an audience. Presentations are typically demonstrations, introduction, lecture, or speech meant to inform, persuade, inspire, motivate, build goodwill, or present a new idea/product. Presenta ...

s are considered to contain

historical negationism Historical negationism, also called denialism, is falsification or distortion of the historical record. It should not be conflated with ''historical revisionism'', a broader term that extends to newly evidenced, fairly reasoned academic reinterp ...

, Kremlin propaganda,

alternative facts "Alternative facts" was a phrase used by U.S. Counselor to the President, Kellyanne Conway, during a ''Meet the Press'' interview on January 22, 2017, in which she defended White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer's false statement about the a ...

and

half-truth A half-truth is a deceptive statement that includes some element of truth. The statement might be partly true, the statement may be totally true, but only part of the whole truth, or it may use some deceptive element, such as improper punctuation, ...

s and have an audience of over 1000 people in Germany. Ganser implies that government and mainstream media would predetermine the way of thinking of the population. The content of Ganser's presentations is popular with a

target audience A target audience is the intended audience or readership of a publication, advertisement, or other message catered specifically to said intended audience. In marketing and advertising, it is a particular group of consumer within the predetermined ...

of "

conspiracy theorists A conspiracy theory is an explanation for an event or situation that invokes a conspiracy by sinister and powerful groups, often political in motivation, when other explanations are more probable.Additional sources: * * * * The term has a nega ...

and democracy skeptics". The director of the Institute for defence policy of the

Kiel University Kiel University, officially the Christian-Albrecht University of Kiel, (german: Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel, abbreviated CAU, known informally as Christiana Albertina) is a university in the city of Kiel, Germany. It was founded in ...

, Joachim Krause, criticized: "Mr. Ganser is not a scientist. He's a

dumbing down Dumbing down is the deliberate oversimplification of intellectual content in education, literature, and cinema, news, video games, and culture. Originated in 1933, the term "dumbing down" was movie-business slang, used by screenplay writers, mean ...

entrepreneur who makes his living by contaminating the brains of people with conspiracy fantasies." Eva Binder and Magdalena Kaltseis from

University of Innsbruck The University of Innsbruck (german: Leopold-Franzens-Universität Innsbruck; la, Universitas Leopoldino Franciscea) is a public research university in Innsbruck, the capital of the Austrian federal state of Tyrol, founded on October 15, 1669. ...

described Ganser his presentation in Magic Castle of Austrian city

Seefeld in Tirol Seefeld in Tirol is an old farming village, now a major tourist resort, in Innsbruck-Land District in the Austrian state of Tyrol with a local population of 3,312 (as of 1 January 2013). The village is located about northwest of Innsbruck on a pl ...

as " pseudoscientific seduction".

Publications

English

Articles
"Terrorism in Western Europe: An Approach to NATO's Secret Stay-behind Armies."
'' Whitehead Journal of Diplomacy and International Relations'', vol. 6, no. 1. pp. 69–97.
"Fear As A Weapon: The Effects Psychological Warfare on Domestic and International Politics."
'' World Affairs: The Journal of International Issues'', vol. 9, no. 4 (2005), pp. 24–40. . * "The British Secret Service in Neutral Switzerland: An Unfinished Debate on NATO's Cold War Stay-behind Armies." ''

Intelligence and National Security ''Intelligence and National Security'' is a peer-reviewed academic journal focused on the role of intelligence in international relations and politics. The journal was established in 1986 by Christopher Andrew and Michael I. Handel as the first ...

'', vol. 20, no. 5 (2005). pp. 553–580..
"The Ghost of Machiavelli: An Approach to Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Cold War Italy."
'' Crime, Law and Social Change'', vol. 45, no. 2 (Mar. 2006), pp. 111–154. .
"The CIA in Western Europe and the Abuse of Human Rights."
''

'', vol. 21, no. 5 (Oct. 2006), pp. 760–781. . Books * ''Reckless Gamble—The Sabotage of the United Nations in the Cuban Conflict and the Missile Crisis of 1962''. New Orleans: University Press of the South (Dec. 2000). .
''NATO's Secret Armies: Operation Gladio and Terrorism in Western Europe''.
London:

Routledge Routledge () is a British multinational publisher. It was founded in 1836 by George Routledge, and specialises in providing academic books, journals and online resources in the fields of the humanities, behavioural science, education, law ...

(2005). . Book contributions
"The 'Strategy of Tension' in the Cold War Period" (Chapter 6).
In: ''9/11 and the American Empire: Intellectuals Speak Out''. Edited by

David Ray Griffin David Ray Griffin (August 8, 1939 – November 26, 2022) was an American professor of philosophy of religion and theology and a 9/11 conspiracy theorist.Sources describing David Ray Griffin as a "conspiracy theorist", "conspiracist", "conspirac ...

and

Peter Dale Scott Peter Dale Scott (born 11 January 1929) is a Canadian-born poet, academic, and former diplomat. A son of the Canadian poet and constitutional lawyer F. R. Scott and painter Marian Dale Scott, he is best known for his critiques of deep politics ...

. Northampton, Mass.:

Olive Branch Press Interlink Publishing is an independent publishing house, founded in 1987 and based in Northampton, Massachusetts, USA. , it published an average of 90 books a year and had 800 titles in print. Overview The company specializes in publishing in the ...

(2007), pp. 79–99. . * "America is Addicted to Oil: U.S. Secret Warfare and Dwindling Oil Reserves in the Context of Peak Oil and 9/11." In: ''The Dual State: Parapolitics, Carl Schmitt and the National Security Complex,'' by Eric Wilson. UK:

Ashgate Ashgate Publishing was an academic book and journal publisher based in Farnham (Surrey, United Kingdom). It was established in 1967 and specialised in the social sciences, arts, humanities and professional practice. It had an American office in ...

(2012). .

Other languages

Articles * "L'OTAN Menace Notre Sécurité," with Hans von Sponeck and Gabriel Galice. ''Le Temps'' enèva(3 April 2017), pp. 6+. Books
''Der Alleingang—Die Schweiz 10 Jahre nach dem EWR-Nein''
with Uwe Wagschal and Hans Rentsch. Zürich: Orell Füssli Verlag (Dec. 2002). . ::English: "''Going it Alone—Switzerland 10 Years After the EWR-Nein.''"
''Europa im Erdölrausch: Die Folgen einer gefährlichen Abhängigkeit.''
Zürich: Orell Füssli Verlag (2012). . ::English: "''Europe in the Oil Frenzy: The Consequences of Dangerous Addiction.''"
''Illegale Kriege: Wie die NATO-Länder die UNO sabotieren. Eine Chronik von Kuba bis Syrien''.
Zürich: Orell Füssli Verlag (2016). . ::English: "''Illegal Wars: How the NATO Countries Sabotage the UN. A Chronicle from Cuba to Syria.''"
''Imperium USA: Die Skrupellose Weltmacht''.
Zürich: Orell Füssli Verlag (2020). . Book contributions
"Peak Oil: Erdöl im Spannungsfeld von Krieg und Frieden."
In: ''Energie'', by Phillip Rudolf von Rohr, Peter Walde, Bertram Battlog. vdf Hochschulverlag an der ETH Zürich (2009), pp. 45–60. . ::English: "''Peak Oil: Crude oil in the Field of Tension Between War and Peace.''" In: "''Energy.''"

References

External links

Official website

Daniele Ganser
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Bibliography
i
edoc
at

University of Basel The University of Basel (Latin: ''Universitas Basiliensis'', German: ''Universität Basel'') is a university in Basel, Switzerland. Founded on 4 April 1460, it is Switzerland's oldest university and among the world's oldest surviving universit ...

Information about Daniele Ganser
on the website of the SIPER Institute (founded by Ganser) *
Daniele Ganser
relinfo.ch * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ganser, Daniele 1972 births Living people People from Lugano 21st-century Swiss historians University of Basel alumni 9/11 conspiracy theorists COVID-19 conspiracy theorists 20th-century Swiss historians Swiss conspiracy theorists Swiss people of German descent Anti-Americanism