Advantages And Disadvantages Of Khrushchev

Improved Essays
The practice of Human Intelligence (HUMINT) has been a controversial feature of the Intelligence community since the creation of CIA in 1947. When George Kennan came out with the strategy of containment in the 1946 “long telegram”, recurring to human activities to counteract the eventual Soviet infiltrations appeared as a better means than military activities. In fact, it would have allowed the clandestine collection of Soviet documents and archives through the personal contact with foreigners or US citizens working abroad. Most of all, espionage was appealing to the IC due to the fact that it gave direct human access, thus allowing to understand governmental plans, intentions and non-public discussions. Also, it was extremely less costly than other methods of collection.
At the same time, HUMINT presented clear disadvantages: in its early
…show more content…
Colonel Pyotr Popov gave a unique and insightful support to the work of the US intelligence towards the Warsaw Pact, through the transmission of classified documents concerning the internal organization of the Communist Party, the military capabilities of the Soviet army and the plans for the satellite countries, especially East Germany. When the Berlin crisis rose in 1958, the espionage from Col. Oleg Penkosvkiy was crucial to anticipate the plans of Khrushchev over Berlin, thus preventing a military escalation between NATO and the conventional forces of the Warsaw Pact. However, when the USSR authorities found out their activities, they were both allegedly imprisoned and executed for treason.
As we have seen, HUMINT has been a salient hallmark in the activity of the US Intelligence throughout the cold war. The successful experiences, but also the risks encountered, must raise the attention on the following lessons learned: human intelligence gives a unique insight into the intentions of the adversary, but it’s a risky business and it takes time to be fully

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The Petrov Affair – Reds under the Bed! BY CALLUM WOOD As the Cold War was raging on in Europe and the Americas, a new front was rapidly advancing within Australia – espionage. The Petrov Affair was the highly controversial defection of Evdokia and Vladimir Petrov, a spy duo designed to conduct key operations in the Soviet Embassy of the Australian capital city. Background Story…

    • 725 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Able Archer Case Study

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Able Archer was a simulated operation organized and conducted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), which spanned a ten day period, from November 2nd to November 11th 1983. It simulated a time of conflict escalation, leading up to a coordinated nuclear attack, and involved an influx of communication, and the participation of several heads of government. The steady weakening of US-Soviet relations prior to Able Archer, as well as the realistic nature of the exercise, led several members of the Soviet Politburo to believe that Able Archer was a prelude to genuine nuclear confrontation. In response, Soviets prepared ICBM silos and put aircraft stationed in East Germany and Poland on alert.…

    • 939 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “This War is About Information” The practice of perception management was prevalent throughout the Cold War, both on the side of the United States of America and of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. As such, both sides had to implement ways in which to hide and process information so that their country could gain an advantage. Stephen Spielberg’s Bridge of Spies is able to clearly and succinctly present the practice of perception management through the characters Rudolf Abel and Francis Gary Powers, as well as through the actions taken by both the United States and the Soviet Union to exchange the two prisoners.…

    • 1308 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Running Head: 1 INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES 1 Intelligent Agencies STS 364 Sadat Cano Arizona State University 3/23/2015 In the U.S national security Umbrella corporations it is composed of many agencies that related to the national security of the United States of America. The U.S national security organizations are composed of many different organizations safe guarding the United of States of American. This organizations serve a purpose to ensure the safety of the United States Citizens and they contribute to the national security of the country. The intelligence is often regard as “intelligence of the enemy”(Troy 1991-92,433), studying the enemy and intelligence organizations collect and analyze data.…

    • 1597 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This source was selected as it affords an overall perspective on this politically charged and socially sensitive affair as well as revealing the implications it had for Western global national security networks. The source is not merely a heresy document, but a legal occurring event recorded in the annals of parliament. It presents a compelling overview of these controversial events and parties involved. By appealing to the Cabinet for Australian citizenship to be granted to the Petrov’s, it reveals the strategic value the Australian government and ASIO had placed upon the Petrov’s during this cold war period. In a moment of exuberance for information gathering, Australian security agencies believed that the Petrov’s were a walking encyclopedia, ready to expose vast amounts of Soviet activity regarding espionage within Australia and its allies.…

    • 699 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Truman Red Scare Essay

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    The USSR had long carried out espionage activities inside America with the help of U.S. citizens, mainly during World War II. As disbelief about Soviet influence grew as the Cold War heated up, U.S. leaders decided to take action. On March 21, 1947, President Harry S. Truman issued Executive Order 9835, also known as the Loyalty Order, which mandated that all federal employees be analyzed to determine whether they were sufficiently loyal to the government. Truman’s loyalty program was a startling development for a country that prized the concepts of personal liberty and freedom of political organization. This was only one of many questionable activities that occurred during the…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Spies In The Civil War

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages

    During the Civil War, both the Union and the Confederacy made extensive use of spies. Harnett Kane, a Southern historian asserts that, “This war between Americans probably saw more espionage, involving more people, than any in our history” (Kane 11). The nature…

    • 1918 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The period before, during, and after World War II called the Cold War lasting from the 1930s to the 1970s was a period of suspicion for American citizens. People began to perceive a communist threat everywhere, from Hollywood to the State Department. The many high-profile cases of individuals spying for the Soviet union in the United States both fueled and reflected the extreme paranoia of society during the Cold War by creating and reflecting the concern of a communist threat in American society. The exposure of the soviet spy Elizabeth Bentley was an extremely prominent case that greatly fueled the anti-Communist paranoia of society. Bentley headed a major spy ring, but later defected from the Communist Party and became an informant…

    • 2056 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    With exception of the ‘Sputnik Crisis’, termed coined by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, and the first space station, America had a farther advanced technology program due to the open society. This wave of technology greatly affected the way the U.S. military and intelligence organizations such as the CIA and FBI were able to operate and collect intelligence in the field. The final way to test the credibility of Suvorov’s view on the adversaries is by taking a look at how he portrays the societies. Suvorov does not give much of an opinion directly concerning the American society, but it can be implied that he views it similar to the way he views their military.…

    • 1590 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Soviet occupation in Poland), and bolstered attacks, asserting on the USSR's behalf, their bent on world domination. The United States misconstrued Soviet intentions and assigned ‘world domination' as Stalin's main goal. With such a seemingly aggressive Soviet threat at hand, the U.S. utilized documents and speeches like Kennan's Long Telegram, Churchill's Iron Curtain Speech and the Truman doctrine to acknowledge the maturing Soviet menace. These three documents and declarations deepened the stratification of the already tenuous Soviet and U.S relationship and unwittingly expedited and worsened Cold War tensions. The Soviets would then respond to the United States via pronouncements and reactions (i.e. the Cominform as a rebuttal to the Marshall Plan) as an escalating tit-for-tat would lead the U.S. and the USSR towards more enmity.…

    • 2609 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In George Kennan’s Thesis “The Sources of Soviet Conduct”, Kennan addresses four key points explaining the motives and forces behind the behavior of the Soviet Union around 1947 and the impacts of this on the Soviet and the reactions of the US. Kennan identifies that the political nature of the Soviet Union is a product of Marxist/ communist ideology. A view that revolution, lead by the working class would overthrow the economically weak and exploitive, capitalist system and replace it with an equal, classless society. Kennan points in the overthrow of the Tsarist government and resulting social and economic strife faced after the Bolshevik Revolution as the foundations of the faulted ‘communist system’. Marxism focus on the overthrow…

    • 712 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Cold War Speech

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The cold war took place during the years 1945 and 1991 between the United States and the Soviet Union. It is known as the cold war because it never turned “hot,” which means that there was never any actual fighting between the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. During these years, many important things happened, many things were invented, and World War III almost happened on many different occasions. On March 5, 1946, Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a speech which, essentially, kick-started the Cold War.1 While he was delivering his speech, he kept praising the United States, almost like he was buttering them up for something. It was clear that the main purpose of this speech was to try to form a closer bond with the United States. He spoke of a iron curtain that had fallen between Eastern Europe and the rest of the world.…

    • 1295 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most critics of surveillance argue about how it is an abuse of power, a violation of people 's privacy, and most importantly, unconstitutional, while proponents of surveillance claim the benefit of surveillance is a reduction in the probability of high-cost events such as terrorism. Government surveillance programs, when conducted in controlled situations and closely audited by independent organizations, do not directly harm innocent civilians, especially when they benefit the safety of the general public. Surveillance, by definition, is the act of carefully watching someone or something especially in order to prevent or detect a crime. If that definition was used when discussing the issue of government surveillance, most public safety activities,…

    • 1195 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Brilliant Essays

    “Espionage and Counterespionage during World War II.” Encyclopedia of World War II. Vol. 1. New York: Facts on File, 2007.…

    • 2328 Words
    • 10 Pages
    • 7 Works Cited
    Brilliant Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The period from 1945 to 1991 is most commonly known as the “Cold War”. This was a time of fear and suspense. The arms race drove both the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) to do drastic things to keep up with each other’s weapons. The cold war negatively affected the U.S.A., the U.S.S.R., and the world by taking money to spend on arms, giving some children ptsd, and by degrading and endangering the lives of many people.…

    • 687 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays