Espionage and the Making of the Modern W

The covert struggles over hegemony in Greenland and Africa’s Sahel as well as the role of intelligence in assassinations and general targeting in the Russo-Ukrainian and the US-Iranian War are the most recent examples of the role of clandestine activities—spying, bribery, propaganda and covert action-- in the evolution of the international system. Since World War II ushered in the modern espionage era, secret intelligence and intelligence services have shaped the course of international history. This course introduces the student to the great sweep of world history from 1938 to 2027 through the lens of the role played by spies, code-breakers, saboteurs, intelligence analysts and the organizations for which they worked. How much did all of this secret stuff matter? Why did countries set up organizations to undertake spying and covert action? Have these activities made them, especially the US, more or less secure? And what has been the cost to private individuals of these activities? Although the focus will mainly be on the activities of US, Russian (Soviet) and British intelligence, the class will also explore cases involving Chinese, Cuban, Danish, Egyptian, French, German, Ghanian, Indonesian, Iranian, Israeli, Jordanian, PLO, Saudi and Vietnamese intelligence.