Journal Article - Review of International Affairs
What Constitutes Successful Covert Action? Evaluating Unacknowledged Interventionism in Foreign Affairs
Abstract
Covert action has long been a controversial tool of international relations. However, there is remarkably little public understanding about whether it works and, more fundamentally, about what constitutes success in this shadowy arena of state activity. This article distills competing criteria of success and examines how covert actions become perceived as successes. We develop a conceptual model of covert action success as a social construct and illustrate it through the case of 'the golden age of CIA operations.' The socially constructed nature of success has important implications not just for evaluating covert actions but also for using, and defending against, them.
– Via Review of International Studies.
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For Academic Citation:
Cormac, Rory, Calder Walton and Damien Van Puyvelde. "What Constitutes Successful Covert Action? Evaluating Unacknowledged Interventionism in Foreign Affairs." Review of International Affairs, (2021): 1–18.
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Covert action has long been a controversial tool of international relations. However, there is remarkably little public understanding about whether it works and, more fundamentally, about what constitutes success in this shadowy arena of state activity. This article distills competing criteria of success and examines how covert actions become perceived as successes. We develop a conceptual model of covert action success as a social construct and illustrate it through the case of 'the golden age of CIA operations.' The socially constructed nature of success has important implications not just for evaluating covert actions but also for using, and defending against, them.
Cormac, Rory, Calder Walton and Damien Van Puyvelde. "What Constitutes Successful Covert Action? Evaluating Unacknowledged Interventionism in Foreign Affairs." Review of International Affairs, (2021): 1–18.
- Recommended
- In the Spotlight
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Paper - Centre for International Governance Innovation
US Intelligence, the Coronavirus and the Age of Globalized Challenges
Analysis & Opinions - The Washington Post
The Deadly Fallout of Disinformation
Journal Article - Brown Journal of World Affairs
Spies, Election Meddling, and Disinformation: Past and Present
In the Spotlight
Most Viewed
Analysis & Opinions - Foreign Policy
America Is Too Scared of the Multipolar World
Analysis & Opinions - Project Syndicate
What Caused the Ukraine War?
Analysis & Opinions - New Straits Times
Gorbachev and the End of the Cold War