Selected by Choice magazine as an Outstanding Academic Book In Covert Operations, Karma Lochrie brings the categories and cultural meanings of secrecy in the Middle Ages out into the open. Isolating five broad areas—confession, women's gossip, medieval science and medicine, marriage and the law, and sodomitic discourse—Lochrie examines various types of secrecy and the literary texts in which they are played out. She reads texts as central to Middle English studies as the "Parson's Tale," the "Miller's Tale," the Secretum Secretorum, and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight as well as a broad range of less familiar works, including a gynecological treatise and a little-known fifteenth-century parody in which gossip and confession become one. As she does so she reveals a great deal about the medieval past—and perhaps just as much about the early development of the concealments that shape the present day.

Traces our country's long history of covert and special operations, focusing on the similarities and differences in the practice from the Revolutionary War to the present. Long before the creation of the CIA, the American government utilized special intelligence strategies with varying degrees of success. Even though critics throughout time have questioned the effectiveness and legitimacy of these tactics, presidents from George Washington to Barack Obama have employed secret operations to benefit the nation's best interest. This book follows America's history of intelligence gathering, undercover operations, and irregular warfare. Through chronologically organized chapters, the author examines secret military maneuvers, highlighting the elements common to covert and special operations across historical eras, and concluding with a chapter on national security since the attacks of September 11, 2001.

In the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, the Pentagon may have expanded its counter-terrorism intell. activities as part of the global war on terror. The DoD may have been conducting certain kinds of counterterrorism intell. activities that would statutorily qualify as ¿covert actions (CA),¿ and thus require a presidential finding and the notification of the congressional intell. committees. Contents of this report: Intro.; Background; Post 9/11 Concerns; Current Statute Governing CA; Exceptions Under the Statutory Definition of CA; Traditional Military Activities ; Routine Support of Traditional Military Activities; House Intell. Committee Calls on DoD to Inform Committee of Intell. Activities; Policy Issues for the 111th Congress.

Based on recently declassified documents, this book provides the first examination of the Truman Administration’s decision to employ covert operations in the Cold War. Although covert operations were an integral part of America’s arsenal during the late 1940s and early 1950s, the majority of these operations were ill conceived, unrealistic and ultimately doomed to failure. In this volume, the author looks at three central questions: Why were these types of operations adopted? Why were they conducted in such a haphazard manner? And, why, once it became clear that they were not working, did the administration fail to abandon them? The book argues that the Truman Administration was unable to reconcile policy, strategy and operations successfully, and to agree on a consistent course of action for waging the Cold War. This ensured that they wasted time and effort, money and manpower on covert operations designed to challenge Soviet hegemony, which had little or no real chance of success. US Covert Operations and Cold War Strategy will be of great interest to students of US foreign policy, Cold War history, intelligence and international history in general.

Covert activity has always been a significant element of international politics. This book attempts to assess the lawfulness of covert action under US and international law and faces the implications for democratic states that covert operations pose.

Introduction to Intelligence Studies (third edition) provides an overview of the US intelligence community, to include its history, organization, and function. Since the attacks of 9/11, the United States Intelligence Community (IC) has undergone an extensive overhaul. This textbook provides a comprehensive overview of intelligence and security issues, defining critical terms and reviewing the history of intelligence as practiced in the United States. Designed in a practical sequence, the book begins with the basics of intelligence, progresses through its history, describes best practices, and explores the way the intelligence community looks and operates today. The authors examine the "pillars" of the American intelligence system—collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and covert operations—and demonstrate how these work together to provide "decision advantage." The book offers equal treatment to the functions of the intelligence world—balancing coverage on intelligence collection, counterintelligence, information management, critical thinking, and decision-making. It also covers such vital issues as laws and ethics, writing and briefing for the intelligence community, and the emerging threats and challenges that intelligence professionals will face in the future. This revised and updated third edition addresses issues such as the growing influence of Russia and China, the recent history of the Trump and Biden administrations and the IC, and the growing importance of the cyber world in the intelligence enterprise. This book will be essential reading for students of intelligence studies, US national security, foreign policy and International Relations in general.

"This is a deep and well-thought out framework for studying U.S. foreign policy. Its focus on institutions and decision-making sets it apart from other texts, and its ability to help students think systematically and empirically is a major plus" —Matthew Zierler, Michigan State University What are the factors that shape and determine the foreign policy choices of the United States? The Politics of United States Foreign Policy helps students consider the players, processes, and politics that drive U.S. decisions and involvement in foreign policy. James Scott and Jerel Rosati emphasize that society, government, and global forces have a role to play in the struggle over competing values when it comes to foreign policymaking. The book discusses historical patterns, the president’s ability to influence both at home and abroad, and the tension between democracy and national security. Now at CQ Press, the Seventh Edition has been updated to cover developments since the end of the Obama administration, the transition to the Trump administration, the challenges of changing international and domestic contexts, and the increasingly partisan political environment. The authors provide a comprehensive text that blends substance, theory, and stimulating analysis.