Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis

Students of international relations are commonly taught that diplomacy and warfare are the primary tools of a state's foreign policy. This paper aims to better connect the field of intelligence studies to that of international relations, with a particular focus on covert action as a 'third...

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Main Author: Chan, Anton Hong Ru
Other Authors: Bernard Loo
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2015
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10356/65423
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author Chan, Anton Hong Ru
author2 Bernard Loo
author_facet Bernard Loo
Chan, Anton Hong Ru
author_sort Chan, Anton Hong Ru
collection NTU
description Students of international relations are commonly taught that diplomacy and warfare are the primary tools of a state's foreign policy. This paper aims to better connect the field of intelligence studies to that of international relations, with a particular focus on covert action as a 'third option' - a third foreign policy tool, past diplomacy but not amounting to warfare. Through a qualitative analysis of covert actions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, or the 'Agency') during the Cold War era, the paper demonstrates that successive U.S. presidents did indeed develop and employ the CIA's covert action capabilities as a primary effector of foreign policy to secure that nation's perceived national interest in the international arena. The paper will conclude by fitting intelligence agencies and their covert action capabilities into international relations theories, with a view to suggest the appropriate theoretical frameworks through which covert action may be best analysed.
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spelling ntu-10356/654232020-11-01T08:32:24Z Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis Chan, Anton Hong Ru Bernard Loo S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science Students of international relations are commonly taught that diplomacy and warfare are the primary tools of a state's foreign policy. This paper aims to better connect the field of intelligence studies to that of international relations, with a particular focus on covert action as a 'third option' - a third foreign policy tool, past diplomacy but not amounting to warfare. Through a qualitative analysis of covert actions of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA, or the 'Agency') during the Cold War era, the paper demonstrates that successive U.S. presidents did indeed develop and employ the CIA's covert action capabilities as a primary effector of foreign policy to secure that nation's perceived national interest in the international arena. The paper will conclude by fitting intelligence agencies and their covert action capabilities into international relations theories, with a view to suggest the appropriate theoretical frameworks through which covert action may be best analysed. Master of Science (International Relations) 2015-09-22T03:15:56Z 2015-09-22T03:15:56Z 2015 2015 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10356/65423 en 50 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science
Chan, Anton Hong Ru
Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
title Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
title_full Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
title_fullStr Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
title_full_unstemmed Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
title_short Intelligence and international relations : covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
title_sort intelligence and international relations covert action as foreign policy instrument and accounting for intelligence in foreign policy analysis
topic DRNTU::Social sciences::Political science
url http://hdl.handle.net/10356/65423
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