Intelligence Agency is an effective instrument of a national
power. Aggressive intelligence is its primary weapon to destabilize the
target. Indeed, no one knows what the intelligence agencies actually
do so figuring out who the best intelligence service is can be
difficult. The very nature of intelligence often means that the
successes will not be public knowledge for years, whereas failures or
controversial operations will be taken to the press. It’s a thankless
situation. Still, from what little has emerged, one can have an idea
of some of the better intelligence services out there, with the
understanding that this is based on incomplete data.
10. ASIS – Australia
| Formed |
13 May 1952 |
| Headquarters |
Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia |
| Annual budget |
$162.5m AUD (2007) |
| Minister responsible |
The Hon. Stephen Smith MP, Minister for Foreign Affairs |
| Agency executive |
Nick Warner, Director-General |
Australian Secret Intelligence Service is the Australian government
intelligence agency responsible for collecting foreign intelligence,
undertaking counter-intelligence activities and cooperation with other
intelligence agencies overseas. For more than twenty years, the
existence of the agency was a secret even from its own government. Its
primary responsibility is gathering intelligence from mainly Asian
and Pacific interests using agents stationed in a wide variety of
areas. Its main purpose, as with most agencies, is to protect the
country’s political and economic interests while ensuring safety for
the people of Australia against national threats.
9. RAW – India
| Formed |
21 September 1968 |
| Headquarters |
New Delhi, India |
| Agency executive |
K. C. Verma, Secretary (R) |
| Parent agency |
Prime Minister’s Office, GoI |
Research and Analysis Wing is India’s external intelligence agency.
It was formed in September 1968, after the newly independent
Republic of India
was faced with 2 consecutive wars, the Sino-Indian war of 1962 and the
India-Pakistani war of 1965, as it was evident that a credible
intelligence gathering setup was lacking. Its primary function is
collection of external intelligence, counter-terrorism and covert
operations. In addition, it is responsible for obtaining and analyzing
information about foreign governments, corporations, and persons, in
order to advise Indian foreign policymakers. Until the creation of
R&AW, the Intelligence Bureau handled both internal and external
intelligence.
8. DGSE – France
| Formed |
April 2, 1982 |
| Preceding agency |
External Documentation and Counter-Espionage Service |
| Minister responsible |
Hervé Morin, Minister of Defence |
| Agency executive |
Erard Corbin de Mangoux, Director |
Directorate General for External Security is France’s external
intelligence agency. Operating under the direction of the French
ministry of defence, the agency works alongside the DCRI (the Central
Directorate of Interior Intelligence) in providing intelligence and
national security, notably by performing paramilitary and
counterintelligence operations abroad. The General Directorate for
External Security (DGSE) of France has a rather short history compared
to other intelligence agencies in the region. It was officially
founded in 1982 from a multitude of prior intelligence agencies in the
country. Its primary focus is to gather intelligence from foreign
sources to assist in military and strategic decisions for the country.
The agency employs more than five thousand people.
7. FSB – Russia
| Formed |
3 April, 1995 |
| Employees |
350,000 |
| Headquarters |
Lubyanka Square |
| Preceding agency |
KGB |
The Federal Security Service of Russian Federation (FSD) is the main
domestic security agency of the Russian Federation and the main
successor agency of the Soviet-era Cheka, NKVD and KGB. The FSB is
involved in counter-intelligence, internal and border security,
counter-terrorism, and surveillance. Its headquarters are on Lubyanka
Square, downtown Moscow, the same location as the former headquarters
of the KGB. All law enforcement and intelligence agencies in Russia
work under the guidance of FSB, if needed. For example, the GRU,
spetsnaz and Internal Troops detachments of Russian Ministry of
Internal Affairs work together with the FSB in Chechnya. The FSB is
responsible for internal security of the Russian state,
counterespionage, and the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and
drug smuggling. The number of FSB personnel and its budget remain
state secrets, although the budget was reported to jump nearly 40% in
2006.
6. BND – Germany
| Formed |
1 April 1956 |
| Employees |
6,050 |
| Agency executive |
Gehlen Organization |
| Parent agency |
Central Intelligence Group |
The Bundesnachrichtendienst is the foreign
intelligence agency of the German government, under the control of the
Chancellor’s Office. The BND acts as an early warning system to alert
the German government to threats to German interests from abroad. It
depends heavily on wiretapping and electronic surveillance of
international communications. It collects and evaluates information on a
variety of areas such as international terrorism, WMD proliferation
and illegal transfer of technology, organized crime, weapons and drug
trafficking, money laundering, illegal migration and information
warfare. As Germany’s only overseas intelligence service, the BND
gathers both military and civil intelligence.
5. MSS – China
| Jurisdiction |
People’s Republic of China |
| Headquarters |
Beijing |
| Agency executive |
Geng Huichang, Minister of State Security |
| Parent agency |
State Council |
Ministry of State Security is the security agency of the People’s
Republic of China. It is also probably the Chinese government’s largest
and most active foreign intelligence agency, though it is also
involved in domestic security matters. Article 4 of the Criminal
Procedure Law gives the MSS the same authority to arrest or detain
people as regular police for crimes involving state security with
identical supervision by the procuratorates and the courts. It is
headquartered near the Ministry of Public Security of the People’s
Republic of China in Beijing. According to Liu Fuzhi, Secretary-General
of the Commission for Politics and Law under the Central Committee of
the Communist Party of China and Minister of Public Security, the
mission of the MSS is to ensure “the security of the state through
effective measures against enemy agents, spies, and
counter-revolutionary activities designed to sabotage or overthrow
China’s socialist system.” One of the primary missions of the MSS is
undoubtedly to gather foreign intelligence from targets in various
countries overseas. Many MSS agents are said to have operated in the
Greater China region (Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) and to have
integrated themselves into the world’s numerous overseas Chinese
communities. At one point, nearly 120 agents who had been operating
under non-official cover in the U.S., Canada, Western and Northern
Europe, and Japan as businessmen, bankers, scholars, and journalists
were recalled to China, a fact that demonstrates the broad geographical
scope of MSS agent coverage.
4.ISI – Pakistan
| Formed |
1948 |
| Jurisdiction |
Government of Pakistan |
| Headquarters |
Islamabad, Pakistan |
| Agency executive |
Lieutenant General Ahmad Shuja Pasha, PA Director General |
With the lengthiest track record of success, the best know
Intelligence so far on the scale of records is ISI. The Inter-Services
Intelligence was created as an independent unit in 1948 in order to
strengthen the performance of Pakistan’s Military Intelligence during
the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. Its success in achieving its goal
without leading to a full scale invasion of Pakistan by the Soviets is a
feat unmatched by any other through out the intelligence world. KGB,
The best of its time, failed to counter ISI and protect Soviet
interests in Central Asia. This GOLD MEDAL makes it rank higher than
Mossad. It has had 0 double agents or Defectors through out its
history, considering that in light of the whole war campaign it
carried out from money earned by selling drugs bought from the very
people it was bleeding, The Soviets. It has protected its Nuclear
Weapons since formed and it has foiled Indian attempts to attain
ultimate supremacy in the South-Asian theatres through internal
destabilization of India. It is above All laws in its host country
Pakistan ‘A State, with in a State’. Its policies are made ‘outside’
of all other institutions with the exception of The Army. Its
personnel have never been caught on camera. Its is believed to have
the highest number of agents worldwide, close to 10,000. The most
striking thing is that its one of the least funded Intelligence agency
out of the top 10 and still the strongest.
3. M1-6 – United Kingdom
| Formed |
1909 as the Secret Service Bureau |
| Jurisdiction |
Government of the United Kingdom |
| Headquarters |
Vauxhall Cross, London |
| Minister responsible |
The Rt Hon. William Hague MP, Foreign Secretary |
| Agency executive |
Sir John Sawers KCMG, Director General |
| Parent agency |
Foreign and Commonwealth Office |
The British have had a long public perception of an effective
intelligence agency (due to the success of the unrealistic, yet
entertaining, James Bond movies). This perception matches reality. MI6,
the British equivalent to the CIA, has had two big advantages in
staying effective: The British Official Secrets Act and D notices can
often prevent leaks (which have been the bane of the CIA’s existence).
Some stories have emerged. In the Cold War, MI6 recruited Oleg
Penkovsky, who played a key part in the favorable resolution of the
Cuban Missile Crisis, and Oleg Gordievski, who operated for a decade
before MI6 extracted him via Finland. The British were even aware of
Norwood’s activities, but made the decision not to tip their hand. MI6
also is rumored to have sabotaged the Tu-144 supersonic airliner
program by altering documents and making sure they fell into the hands
of the KGB.
2. Mossad – Israel
| Formed |
December 13, 1949 as the Central Institute for Coordination |
| Employees |
1,200 (est) |
| Agency executive |
Meir Dagan, Director |
| Parent agency |
Office of the Prime Minister |
The Mossad is responsible for intelligence collection and covert
operations including paramilitary activities. It is one of the main
entities in the Israeli Intelligence Community, along with Aman
(military intelligence) and Shin Bet (internal security), but its
director reports directly to the Prime Minister. The list of its
successes is long. Israel’s intelligence agency is most famous for
having taken out a number of PLO operatives in retaliation for the
attack that killed eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympic games
in Munich. However, this agency has other success to its name,
including the acquisition of a MiG-21 prior to the Six-Day war of 1967
and the theft of the plans for the Mirage 5 after the deal with
France went sour. Mossad also assisted the United States in supporting
Solidarity in Poland during the 1980s.
1. CIA – America
| Formed |
September 18, 1947 |
| Employees |
20,000 |
| Agency executive |
John Brennan, Director |
| Parent agency |
Central Intelligence Group |
CIA is the largest of the intelligence agencies and is responsible
for gathering data from other countries that could impact U.S. policy.
It is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government
responsible for providing national security intelligence to senior
United States policymakers. The CIA also engages in covert activities
at the request of the President of the United States of America. The
CIA’s primary function is to collect information about foreign
governments, corporations, and individuals, and to advise public
policymakers. The agency conducts covert operations and paramilitary
actions, and exerts foreign political influence through its Special
Activities Division. It has failed to control terrorism activities
including 9/11, Not even a single top level Al-Queda leader captured
own its own in the past 9 years – ‘they missed 1 Million’ Soviet troops
marching into Afghanistan’. Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, Have
the found them yet? -Number of defectors/ double agents numbers close
to a thousand. On 50th anniversary of CIA, President Clinton said ”By
necessity, the American people will never know the full story of your
courage. Indeed, no one knows that what CIA really does”. Highly
funded and technologically most advanced Intelligence set-up in the
world.
