Counterintelligence and National Strategy

At the start of the 21st century, there are many more highly capable foreign intelligence services in the world than ever before, and we are only just beginning to understand their modern potential as an extension of state power. The functions that U.S. counterintelligence CI performs in the face of these changing intelligence threats have well-established tactical objectives and processes, but their potential as an integral part of American national security strategy is just starting to emerge. The work of clandestine services, engaged in intelligence collection and other activities, is an arena of international competition in which the advantage does not necessarily go to the rich or powerful. Foreign adversaries may not have a prayer of fielding costly and technologically demanding technical collection suites, but they can organize, train, equip, sustain, and deploy impressive numbers of case officers, agents of influence, saboteurs, and spies, and the United States has become the single most important collection target in the world. Intelligence operations against the United States are now more diffuse, aggressive, technologically sophisticated, and potentially more successful than ever before, especially within America itself, where a rich, free society and an extensive foreign presence provide opportunity and cover for intelligence services and their agents.