Espionage

Mucho se ha discutido en medios de comunicación, debates académicos y grupos activistas sobre la extravagancia de la tipificación de los delitos atribuidos a Chelsea Manning. Por ejemplo, por el hecho de que resultó convicto de “espionaje”, aunque sobreseído de un
cargo de “ayudar al enemigo” (es decir, una variante del delito de “traición”). Uno podría preguntarse “¿cuál enemigo?”, “¿cómo ayudó al enemigo exactamente?”, “¿a favor de quién espió, si no estaba al servicio de ningún país o empresa extranjeros y solo liberó cierta
información para que todo el mundo la supiese por igual?”, “¿por qué se castiga así a alguien que solo fue una fuente periodística que aportó datos de claro interés público, es decir, un “whistleblower”?”, “¿puede un soldado de un país cometer el delito de espionaje sin incurrir al mismo tiempo en el de traición? Para contribuir a echar luz sobre estas aparentes paradojas, en este trabajo se analiza la construcción del concepto de “enemigo” en la ley de Inteligencia de los Estados Unidos, en su código de justicia militar y en la acusación, la defensa y otros involucrados en el juicio a Manning. Complementariamente, también se examina el concepto
de “espía”.

This article reviews the role of intelligence in public administration and compares diplomatic intelligence and espionage. In this context, the article provides examples of diplomatic intelligence and espionage across political, economic, military and scientific-technical areas. This comparative analysis is followed by the recommendations for addressing the existing challenges in national security.

სტატიაში განხილულია სადაზვერვო საქმიანობის როლი სახელმწიფო მართვაში და გაკეთებულია შედარებითი ანალიზი დიპლომატიურ და აგენტურულ დაზვერვას შორის. ამ კონტექსტში წარმოდგენილია პოლიტიკური, ეკონომიკური, სამხედრო და სამეცნიერო-ტექნიკური მიმართულებით დიპლომატიური და აგენტურული დაზვერვის მაგალითები და განხილულია აგენტურული გადაბირების ხუთი ძირითადი ეტაპი. დიპლომატიურ და აგენტურულ დაზვერვას შორის შედარებითი ანალიზის შემდეგ, სტატიის ბოლოს წარმოდგენილია რეკომენდაციები ეროვნული უსაფრთხოების სფეროში არსებული გამოწვევების საპასუხოდ.

In the autumn of 1962, two weeks before U-2 aerial photographs confirmed Soviet deployments of nuclear missiles in Cuba, the US intelligence community attempted to image the island with the spy satellite Corona. Insufficient image resolution and extensive cloud cover, however, prevented this photography from providing solid evidence confirming or denying the presence of offensive missiles. This event – previously unaddressed either by Missile Crisis or Corona scholars – illustrates both the promise and the limits of early satellite imagery intelligence. It further provides insight into the early imagery tasking and coordination process and demonstrates needs that drove further development of national satellite reconnaissance in the years that followed.

Skyfall (2012) signals a crisis in global espionage in a post-9/11 era of schizophrenic digital terror. James Bond and his enemy are both internally excluded from their agency-MI6-and this "abjection" leads to terrorist revenge and sovereign reaffirmation. The latter involves a survival test for 007's vulnerable body while simultaneously recovering a national identity for the United Kingdom. In this sense, James Bond mirrors Jason Bourne, the ex-CIA agent in the Jason Bourne film series. Bourne undergoes a similar abjection yet becomes neither terrorist nor sovereign but instead a symptom of perpetual mind-games. This chapter compares Bond to Bourne to enable a cognitive mapping of the twenty-first-century espionage genre and its global system of sovereignty and abjection.

Espionage
During the Cold War, the Soviet Union maintained a strong presence in Iceland, due to Iceland’s military importance and the American base in Keflavík. Despite a couple of incidents that revealed Soviet espionage in Iceland, no real Icelandic spies were ever caught. This final essay is a reflec­tion on Cold War spy mania, and raises the question of whether there were any Icelandic spies.

Religious groups existing on the fringes of US Society can quickly find themselves pushed outside the borders of acceptability by the onset of war, especially if they hold pacifist convictions and an avid desire to proselytise. Gary Perkins shares the history of one such group, the International Bible Students Association.

How has secrecy shaped the collective memory of Bletchley Park? Collective memory helps to form our collective identity, an ideal that we should conform to. It gives us belonging, a sense of right and wrong and is what motivates us to action. 1 Collective memory is therefore extremely powerful, but importantly is vulnerable to modification by inaccuracy, duplicity and omission. Intentional silence or suppression of information is therefore of great consequence to collective memory, and Bletchley Park functions as a stark demonstration of the consequence of enduring secrecy. The Second World War is perhaps the most defining instance in recent history that crafted a contextual identity that is still currently adhered to; Brexit, the 'War on Terrorism' and the Falkland war all revoke memories of WWII, either through " fighting tyranny " or facing up to a threat that demanded the British people evoke the " Blitz mentality " of uniting against a common enemy. 2 As a subject, history by its very nature, is almost assumed by non-historians to be an un-altering account of forgone conclusions, actions and results. While research occasionally uncovers novel treasures giving an alternative perspective on an historical event, it may be difficult to transform an identity previously forged in the collective memory to reflect this new information. 3 Monuments, memorials, remembrances, TV, film and media are examples of how, presently, we typically preserve a shared consciousness of historic events. Inclusion in these various media entrenches an individual or an event, whether fact or fiction, into the collective memory, and exclusion of a subject is commensurate to it never having occurred. The secrecy imperative to Bletchley Park and the work undertaken therein has inevitably led to an initially absent, though subsequently emerging, position in the collective memory of WWII. While government intelligence dates back millennia, the necessity for government secrecy was observed on a previously unprecedented scale during the course of WWII. 4 Bletchley was Britain's fortress of secrets and much of the information processed within its walls either remains under 1 For further works on the theory of collective memory see J.K. Olick The Collective Memory Reader, S. Freud Totem and

The objective scope of the analysis contained in the text concerns legal solutions to penalisation of the crime of espionage with regard to information security. As the main goal, the text performs an analysis of the crime of espionage in the Polish substantive penal regulations, including a comparative analysis of corresponding Swedish substantive penal regulations.
          In order to elaborate the research problem, the text addresses the following research questions: (1) To what degree do the legal solutions concerned with the penalisation of the crime of espionage provide effective prosecution and combating of this type of crime? (2) What changes in the scope of legal solutions penalising the acts of espionage can be proposed?
          While the analysis contained in the text is for the most part a dogmatic and doctrinal approach, a comparative interpretation (with regard to substantive penal regulations penalising the crime of espionage in Poland and Sweden), as well as teleological and functional interpretations (with a view to reinterpreting selected, established or debated doctrinal approaches) are also applied.

Le roman, s’il est l’objet d’une lecture par les outils conceptuels des sciences humaines, contribue à dévoiler en partie ce que la littérature académique a désigné comme la « dimension manquante » des Relations internationales. C’est-à-dire l’oubli relatif jusqu’aux années 1980 des problématiques du renseignement comme point de compréhension privilégié de la politique internationale.

Cet article plonge dans les méandres du monde de James Bond pour tenter de comprendre en quoi le célèbre espion britannique nous fait découvrir un au delà du réel. En considérant pleinement l'enjeu philosophique de ce brouillage de frontières, et avec l'aide de Derrida je pose la question suivante: en quoi l’espion nous propose un autre rapport au monde, ainsi qu’à la notion d’identité, se fondant non plus sur la lumière mais sur l’obscurité d’un ailleurs du réel ?

Wilhelm Stieber greatly advanced intelligence and counterintelligence.  His ideas paved the way for secret police forces and intelligence agencies for the future.  He not only managed intelligence services but undertook dangerous work himself as an operative.

BREAKING: Evidenced Corruption and Collusion in Federal and Massachusetts State Courts - Recused/Disqualified Judges, Attorneys for Bank Defendants Wells Fargo/US Bank, Federal/State Prosecutors and the Deafening silence of Massachusetts Legislators, including Governor Charlie Baker (R-MA).... WHY you ask? In part, it's an effort to prevent legal precedent from being set that shows more than 60M illegally securitized mortgages in The United States are entirely VOID. Once the Courts initiate corrective action: (1) HARIHAR v US BANK et al (Docket No. 15-cv-11880, US District Court, Boston, MA); and (2) HARIHAR v WELLS FARGO, et al (Docket No. 1981-cv-00050, Middlesex Superior Court, Woburn, MA), stands to become landmark cases in US history - IF Defendants DO NOT wish to accept HARIHAR's GOOD FAITH Opportunity to reach a legal settlement agreement.

Let's see if any of the Defendants' Counsel (K&L Gates LLP, Nelson Mullins LLP, Rich May PC and Harmon Law Offices PC) respond by today's 5pm deadline (Wednesday, 05/13/2020). Either way, this litigation WILL move forward - and the WORLD is watching...

This present essay focuses on the information that Hispanic spies collected in the Levant during the sixteenth-century. Based on archival and literary sources, the study is built around the typical structure of a lyric opera to show the worth of the secret correspondence such as archetype of European perception about the Ottoman Empire and, more generally, about all the Islam.
KEY WORDS: Intelligence; Secret information; Ottoman Empire; Hispanic Monarchy; Eastern Mediterranean; Otherness.

In Indian history, spying on citizens is as old as Rigveda. The system had developed as an intricate and sophisticated administrative science. Aphorisms like “spies are kings’ eyes” reflect an Indian tradition going back many centuries. In ancient India, spies were used in large number to ascertain the validity or lack of it in the statements of parties to litigation and witnesses and to collect correct and reliable information regarding any mass movement, rebellion or insurgency.

Gordian III and Philip the Arab. The Roman Empire at a Crossroads (Dr. Ilkka Syvänne, Pen and Sword Publishing, Barnsley 22 March 2021) offers not only detailed analysis of the reigns of Gordian III and Philip the Arab, but also a very detailed analysis of the wars and political developments that preceded their reigns between 222 and 238.  It was during those years that the political and religious factions came into existence that dominated the events also after 238. The meager sources are milked for all their worth to achieve this.

The monograph shows how the Roman military organization, equipment and tactics changed from 222 until 249 and shows how and when the Romans developed the immediate predecessor of Gallienus’s famous cavalry corps and why it was that Decius was employing only cavalry when he fought against the Goths.

The campaigns of Alexander Severus, Maximinus Thrax, Pupienus, Crispinus, Timesitheus and the campaigns of the Arabic brothers Philip and Priscus, and others are analyzed in such detail as the sources allow.  The monograph shows what type of Empire Gordian III inherited and in what state he left it to his successor.  When Philip the Arab ruled the Roman Empire was still the most powerful Empire on earth.  Philip and his brother Priscus kept both the Goths and Persians in check so that it can be said with great confidence that their death was a great blow to the Roman Empire because their successor Decius was defeated by both. The monograph explains why the two successful brothers were killed and what the mistakes were that led to this situation and what was their inheritance for their successor Decius.

Includes a discussion of the Roman use of germ warfare.

For those who are interested in Sassanian history the book also offers new material which explain for example the circumstances in which Shapur I rose to power and how he may have infiltrated the Roman high command with his own operatives.

The objective scope of the research problem presented in the text covers a selection of issues concerned with the US espionage against Poland in the period between 1970 and 1989. The main goal of the text is to present the Polish intelligence services' state of knowledge and habits of mind concerned with the threats springing from the US spying activity. In order to elaborate the research problem, the following research questions have been presented: (1) What was the scope of the recognition of the US espionage by the Polish intelligence services in the period of 1970-1989?, (2) What areas of interest in the US espionage against Poland were predominant in the period of 1970-1989? The text focuses on: (1) an overall description of espionage in Poland (allowing for both the quantitative aspects of the phenomenon and the legal aspects), (2) areas of interest for the US intelligence in Poland (taking into account both the activity of US diplomatic posts and some selected spheres of interest to the US intelligence services, e.g. economy, industry and academia). The text uses material and documentation generated by the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Defence (including subordinate institutions, e.g. special services) in the years 1970-1989. The theory of speech acts by J. L. Austin has been liberally used to critically analyse the material and documentation. Besides, a dogmatic interpretation of the law has been used to analyse the legal issues of espionage.

For those of you wondering why I recently took an impassioned interest in defending the Electoral College, the Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA)  from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence on Russian meddling in the recent U.S. elections explains my combative stance.

Whether intending to elect or defeat a foreign candidate or cause, influencing elections is an old game played globally by both Russian and U.S. intelligence agencies. Destabilizing institutions and reducing confidence in government are often key components. The ICA acknowledges that "Russia, like its Soviet predecessor, has a history of conducting covert influence campaigns focused on U.S. presidential elections" and that recent efforts, including "press placements to disparage candidates perceived as hostile to the Kremlin" were an escalated use of existing techniques.

For many us familiar with Russian tradecraft, the Bear's paw prints were abundant and easily visible months before the election.

Omitting classified supporting evidence that would reveal methods and sources, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), and the National Security Agency (NSA) cooperated to draft the ICA. Their joint conclusion -- based on evidence known by 29 December 2016 and offered with generally high confidence  -- was that Russian hacking, along with propaganda and disinformation efforts (including the creation and dissemination of fake news), were undertaken with the direct knowledge and approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials. The Russian effort, initially designed to "denigrate Secretary Clinton and harm her electability and potential presidency" and eventually included efforts to "help President-elect Trump’s election chances when possible by discrediting Secretary Clinton and publicly contrasting her unfavorably to him" (about this last assertion, the NSA offered only moderate versus high confidence).

The Russian effort was part of a continuing and "longstanding desire to undermine the U.S.-led liberal democratic order" by undermining "public faith in the U.S. democratic process."  (continued... download to read more)

Since 9/11 American intelligence has evolved in a changing atmosphere of modern tactics and techniques of information collection. This atmosphere, coupled with massive leaps in technological advancement such as social media, mobile communications, processing analytics, large-form solid-state data storage and novel computational hardware and software equipment, has thrust the Intelligence Community into a strange new world of multi-dimensional intelligence.  With the implementation of new technologies and the expansion of those technologies to public access whereas they were once reserved specifically for governments or major conglomerations, intelligence collection methods have increased far beyond than the traditional human intelligence capability. In addition, the incorporation of science and technology into a loosely termed ‘Technical Intelligence’ (TechInt) has become a major contributor to both data and strategy.  While science and technology and human capability both remain valuable facets of the same overlapping intelligence construct, there is a growing trend of diametrically opposed camps setting one method over the other. This article explains how in terms of field application and intelligence information processing/analysis, both HumInt and TechInt are maximized by a mutual cooperation that at present does not exist.

Hubungan bilateral antara Indonesia dengan Australia tidak selalu stabil. Hubungan bilateral ini cenderung fluktuatif lengkap dengan pasang-surut kedekatannya yang dipengaruhi berbagai hal. Kasus yang terbilang masih hangat yang sempat menggemparkan hubungan kedua negara tersebut adalah kasus penyadapan yang dilakukan oleh badan intelejen Australia terhadap para petinggi negara Indonesia yang terkuak pada tahun 2013 silam. Kepercayaan yang selama ini dibina di antara kedua negara menjadi berkurang dan dipertanyakan lagi esensi dan keperluannya. Dalam kasus ini Indonesia merasa Australia tidak menghargai kedaulatan Indonesia sebagai sebuah negara yang merdeka. Di sisi lain, beberapa kalangan Pemerintah Australia berkata bahwa spionase adalah hal yang biasa dilakukan dalam hubungan negara-negara (Saputra, Kebijakan Pemerintah Indonesia dalam Menyikapi Tindakan Penyadapan oleh Australia, 3) dan berkata bahwa Indonesia terlalu berlebihan dalam menyikapi kasus ini. ...

The Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP’s) intelligence system is focused on technology acquisition, political and military intelligence, and counter-subversion, using some techniques familiar in the West but others that are less so.  Chinese historical models, Soviet techniques, Western practices, and the recent evolution of work under the CCP have all shaped today’s intelligence and counterintelligence (CI) community, including the Ministry of State Security (MSS, Guojia Anquanbu), the smaller CI effort under the Ministry of Public Security (MPS, Gonganbu), and the specialized collection efforts of the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and other government bodies.  A striking characteristic of the Chinese system since 1979 is the broad “actuarial” tasking employed for technology acquisition.

This is an update to my 2017 paper providing information regarding the use of Double Agents by the Allies in WW2, and how MI6(V) developed a Counter-Espionage Section and outstations to identify enemy intelligence operators and control enemy agents in Europe. This describes the evolution of the Special Counter Intelligence Units (SCIUs) created by MI6(V), It provides background by describing other allied units and organisations involved in associated work. It also delves into the internal bureaucratic battles between MI5 and MI6 and the involvement of Kim Philby.

My e-book, Special Counter Intelligence in WW2 Europe (Revised 2021), is a free, updated version of the edition sold by BAM! Publishing (2017, $10) and gives a fuller description of the guiding section in London; the origins and reasons for the establishment of the operational, military aspects of this work - Special Counter Intelligence units; plus background on other efforts to do similar work in the Middle East and in North Africa. If you want more information on the work of SI(b)-SCI Units in Italy and NW Europe, please download the e-book, which provides a much more comprehensive account, including details of some major cases.

This article addresses the problem of legitimation under communist rule in Romania during the epoch of Nicolae Ceausescu (1965-89) by focusing on the communist spy novels published during a particular time span, that is, 1965-77. Communist spy novels set forth a fictional character, the counterintelligence (Securitate) officer who fought on the "invisible front" against Western spies sent to Romania to steal "state secrets'". Such novels obviously obscured the repressive character of the Securitate and attempted at legitimating the communist rule.

During the Second World War the Abwehr, Germany's intelligence service, made concerted attempts to sabotage Britain. Not only did they train specialist saboteurs, they also recruited Irish and Welsh Nationalists and poured thousands of pounds into attacking key targets across the country. Using contemporary MI5 and MI6 sources, this work investigates the successes and failures of Sabotage in Britain.

The text is treats of the espionage against Poland in the period 1944-1989. The above analysis has been supplemented with the quantitative data from the period 1944-1984 as regards those convicted for participating in, acting for, and passing on information to the foreign intelligence agencies. The espionage issues were presented on the example of the American intelligence activity, which was illustrated by the cases of persons who were convicted for espionage. While examining the research thesis, the author used the documents and analyses prepared by the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which were in its major part addressed to the Security Service and the Citizens’ Militia officers. The author made an attempt at the verification of the following research hypotheses: (1) to what extent did the character of the socio-political system influence the number of persons convicted for espionage against Poland in the period under examination (1944-1989)?, (2) what was the level of foreign intelligence services’ interest in Poland before the year 1990?, (3) is it possible to indicate the specificity of the U.S. intelligence activity against Poland?

Francisco Ríos (c. 1872-c.1811), alias el Quitacapas, es un peligroso ladrón que llega a ser capitán de los cholos durante la Revolución del 25 de Mayo de 1809 en La Plata (Chuquisaca).
En 1963, Gunnar Mendoza publica la "Causa criminal seguida de oficio por el alcalde ordinario de la Villa de Oruro contra Francisco Ríos, alias el Quitacapas, por vago, mal entretenido y otros crímenes (1809-1811). En 2009, su hijo Javier Mendoza Pizarro postula que la participación de Ríos en la Revolución es accidental. Empero, nueva información permite demostrar que Ríos tiene estrechas y duraderas relaciones con los revolucionarios.
En 1804, Ríos es cómplice del líder revolucionario paceño Tomás Rodríguez de Palma. Permanece encarcelado entre 1804 y 1808, cuando escapa y es indultado. Reclutado por otro líder insurgente, José Ramón de Loayza y Pacheco, en espía y emisario revolucionario en Yogas, Cochabamba y Oruro. Tiene una muy destacada participación en la Revolución de La Plata pero su pasado delictivo le impide repetir esto en La Paz. A pesar de ello, su violencia y criminalidad lo llevan a ser encarcelado por los mismos revolucionarios.

In the mid 1990s, the CIA faced an existential crisis, it's ideological enemy in the guise of the Soviet Union collapsed.  This left a vacuum in which the Agency could not justify a desired increase in public spending on 'intelligence gathering'.  The CIA had always faced an image crisis in motion pictures, even throughout the Cold War.

"Since the CIA first started appearing in motion pictures in the 1960s, the Agency has been depicted in a very negative light.  Indeed Hollywood's most common constructions of Langley revolved around the image of the CIA as a rogue organization, working outside effective oversight; as a malicious organization that betrays its own assets and officers; as possessing a strong predeliction towards assasination; or as a buffoonish and hopelessly inept outfit.  Given this cinematic history, it is understandable that the CIA wished to reverse its popular image by working with motion picture creators, but given its culture of secrecy, it did not actually embark on the public mission until the 1990s.  During the early part of the 1990s, the CIA experienced a number of setbacks that finally demanded that it became more proactive in shaping its image at home."

Without a prescient Cold War threat to justify it's existence, the CIA had an emerging image problem. 

This was not helped by its portrayal in the entertainment media of films and television, where fictionalised representations of the Agency for the last 30 years had not been casting the organisation and its work in a favourable light.

http://www.whenthenewsstops.org/2015/11/the-cia-in-hollywood-how-agency-shapes.html

Reviews one of three books related to the Cold War: Scott Martell's The Fear Within, Alan Hornblum's The Invisible Harry Gold, Thomas Sakmyster's Red Conspirator, all of which appeared in the peer-reviewed Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies, published by of the Association of Foreign Intelligence Officers (AFIO) Intelligencer: Journal of U.S. Intelligence Studies( September 2011):  http://www.afio.com/publications/INTL_TableOfContents.pdf

Robert Hanssen, a career FBI Special Agent and " trusted insider " , was able to sell U.S. secrets to the Soviets and Russians for twenty-two years before his detection in December, 2000 by the FBI. Prior to Hanssen's arrest, the FBI's internal security programs were fragmented and contained severe deficiencies. These flaws made it relatively easy for Hanssen to commit espionage, and simultaneously, difficult for the FBI to identify him as an insider threat and ultimately arrest him. While the motivations and techniques surrounding espionage have significantly changed since the end of the Cold War, the " trusted insider " threat remains. This paper will examine the key aspects of the FBI's internal security program that enabled Hanssen to commit espionage, as well as some of the motivating factors behind his activity. A brief synopsis of Hanssen's background and FBI employment history will be included. However, the primary focus will be analysing Hanssen-era FBI security protocols and the 2002 Webster Commission Report, which was produced to examine the FBI's security programs and recommend methods to overhaul FBI internal security programs in light of the Hanssen case. The FBI's efforts to implement those recommendations, to effect a more technologically advanced and secure environment within the FBI, will also be examined.

The scope of the research problem encompasses selected issues concerning the content and sense of the elements characterizing the offense of espionage in Polish criminal law. In the legislation currently in force, the offense of espionage is criminalized under Art. 130 § 1-4 of the Criminal Code. The main purpose of the analysis is to perform a substantive criminal examination of the offense of espionage under Polish law, considering a practical case study and an assessment of the legal provisions regarding state security. In order to elaborate the material scope of the research problem and present the conclusions, the paper asks the following research questions: (1) To what extent are the de lege lata legal solutions in Poland effective in counteracting espionage offenses?, (2) What de lege ferenda solutions ought to be proposed to improve effective counteraction of espionage offenses? The paper includes an institutional and legal analysis aided by textual, functional, and historical interpretations, supplemented with the author's conclusions and opinions concerning de lege lata and de lege ferenda solutions. The institutional and legal analysis is supplemented with a case study of espionage activity. The case study helps consider selected legal problems and presents example legal classifications of the described acts associated with espionage activity.

The KGB (Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti or Committee of State Security) was the preeminent Soviet intelligence agency and Soviet equivalent of the American CIA.
During the later Soviet period, the KGB served as organization primarily responsible intelligence and counterintelligence matters. Although the NKVD was tasked with internal security, the KBG role in political security and counterintelligence was so broad that its operations often touched on internal security matters. Even Soviet border guards were eventually placed under KGB supervision.

The head of the KGB enjoyed an important position in the totalitarian regime hierarchy. In 1967, Andropov, then head of KGB and later Soviet premier, described the role of the KGB and other state security bodes as engaged in "a bitter and stubborn battle on all fronts, economic, political, and ideological.

The KGB and Western intelligence services played a continual deadly game of "cat and mouse" (both as pursuers and the pursued) throughout the Cold War. KGB officers and operatives played an important role in the attempt to overthrow the government of the first (and last) president of the USSR, Mikhail Gorbachev and was essentially abolished or devolved into successor agencies after the failure of the anti-Gorbachev putsch and the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

The KGB's culture continue to heavily influence Russian politics and policy. After the fall of the Soviet Union, former KGB officer Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin, became President of the successor, Russian Federation.  Moreover, the following Russian Federation agencies were created from within the KGB: the Federal Security Service (FSB); the Federal Agency of Government Intercommunication, which is responsible for communications between top state officials; the Guard Service, which guards top state officials; and the Outer Intelligence Service, which collects and processes all data coming from abroad.

Some of the bizarre disinformation created by the KGB and regurgitated anti-U.S. critics, still survives as urban myth or folk legend. For example, documents in the KGB archives now provide evidence that KGB operatives mounted a disinformation campaign laden with pseudo scientific "proofs" and language that was designed to influence third-world nations that the United States had deliberately created the AIDS virus in the laboratory to use as a biological weapon.  (download to read more)

[Author's note: in 2016 U.S. intelligence agencies, including the CIA, NSA, and DIA united in approving an Intelligence Community Assessment (ICA) concluding that "Russia, like its Soviet predecessor, has a history of conducting covert influence campaigns focused on U.S. presidential elections" including the 2016 U.S. Presidential Campaign. The ICA conclusion -- based on evidence known by 29 December 2016 and offered with generally high confidence was that Russian hacking, along with propaganda and disinformation efforts (including the creation and dissemination of fake news), were undertaken with the direct knowledge and approval of Russian President Vladimir Putin and other senior Russian officials.  Read more at https://www.academia.edu/30817272/_The_Bear_Gets_a_BOGO_The_ICA_on_Russian_Meddling_in_the_2016_U.S._Presidential_Election ]