Publications

Books and research.

Matador Publishing produces long-form work at the intersection of statecraft, counterintelligence, and political philosophy. This page also lists the founder's titles published under other imprints, alongside the firm's commissioned and independent research.

Matador Publishing

Titles from the imprint

Cover of Spirits of Conflict, showing a decanter and cocktail glasses on a dark bar in warm lamplight
Published · Matador Publishing

Spirits of Conflict: A History of War in Twelve Cocktails

Shane McNeil · Logan Rogue · Andrew Rolander

Twelve conflicts, twelve drinks, and the argument that the social history of war is not a footnote to the strategic history of it. Each chapter takes a cocktail with a genuine claim on a moment of military history and uses it to open the period.

Available in hardcover and paperback, with an ebook edition.

Cover of The Custodian Papers, showing a colonnade of classical stone columns in warm light
Matador Publishing · Second edition in preparation

The Custodian Papers: How Counterintelligence Protects the American Idea

Dr. Shane A. McNeil, writing as Praesidius

A philosophical and strategic case that counterintelligence is the stewardship of a free civilization rather than a bureaucratic security function. The argument runs from the constitutional premise through the practical question of what a republic owes the people it asks to guard it.

The first edition appeared under the pen name Praesidius and is now out of print. A second edition, published under the author's own name with the pen name disclosed, is in preparation.

Also by Dr. McNeil

Published under other imprints

Work written by the firm's founder and published elsewhere. Matador Publishing is not the publisher of record for these titles.

Cover of Guarding the Republic, showing the United States Capitol dome lit against a dark storm sky
Published · Sentinel Publishing

Guarding the Republic: Counterintelligence, Statecraft, and the Defense of the American Idea

Dr. Shane A. McNeil

An argument that counterintelligence is a strategic instrument of statecraft rather than a defensive support function, and that the distinction shapes how a democracy competes against authoritarian rivals.

Published in hardcover by Sentinel Publishing, the imprint of the Sentinel Research & Policy Institute.

Cover of Cybersecurity: Data Privacy in the Age of Digital Communication, showing an abstract blue circuit cityscape with red padlock icons
Published · Cognella

Cybersecurity: Data Privacy in the Age of Digital Communication

Dr. Lamia Zia · Dr. Shane McNeil · Dr. Tiffany Ceasor

A first-edition university textbook on data privacy, written for students entering cybersecurity, homeland security, and criminal justice programs. Adopted for undergraduate instruction.

Shadow Lineage
Forthcoming · Cognella

Shadow Lineage: From X-2 to JFCI and the Future of American Counterintelligence

Dr. Shane A. McNeil

An institutional history of American counterintelligence from the X-2 branch of the Office of Strategic Services to the present, written as a textbook. A preliminary edition is in preparation with Cognella.

Research

White papers and research products

Commissioned and independent research, built exclusively from publicly available information, with documented fact kept visibly separate from projection.

In Development

ICTRL Proposal

A white paper proposing the establishment of an Intelligence and Counterintelligence Technology Research Laboratory at Texas Tech University, arguing for a national academic home for counterintelligence technology research.

Published

The New Export Controls

An analysis of the second and third order counterintelligence effects of nationality-based restrictions on frontier artificial intelligence access, argued from the historical record of COCOM, Wassenaar, and cryptography export control.

Ongoing

Commissioned Research

Client-directed white papers, analytic frameworks, and decision support products developed under advisory engagements. Availability depends on client release.

Standards

How the firm handles sourcing

All Matador research and analytical products are built exclusively from publicly available information. This is both a legal constraint and a reputational commitment, and it holds regardless of what a client would prefer.

Claims are cited. Where the evidence supports a conclusion, the document says so and shows the basis. Where the analysis moves from evidence into projection, the document marks the transition rather than letting the reader assume the same footing applies throughout. Uncertainty is stated as uncertainty.

Formal research products follow Chicago Manual of Style citation conventions.

Commissions

Commission a research product.

White papers, analytic frameworks, threat assessments, and decision support material developed to a defined scope and timeline.