Abstract
This study determines strategic interest’s impact on the character of interstate intelligence diplomacy. Focused on clandestine diplomacy and intelligence liaison as specific variants, the study examines why the character of intelligence diplomacy deviates from anticipated trajectories when pursued as a tool of statecraft. It does so through three case studies: Israel’s clandestine diplomacies as part of its ‘Peripheral Alliance’ strategy (1957-1979), intra-EU intelligence sharing mechanisms (1991-2016), preferences surrounding and uses of informal/formal intelligence liaison mechanisms within the European Union (EU), and Anglo-Soviet liaison during the Second World War (1941-1945). Empirical insights subsequently drawn are used to explain such behaviour through theory-building pursued as part of a preliminary plausibility probe. It does so through hypothesis-testing conducted via foreign policy analysis (FPA), and by incorporating inputs from ‘intelligence power’ – the deployment of national intelligence architectures and capacities to exercise power – under an overarching cybernetic framework. The study seeks to serve a policy-relevant purpose by way of historical analysis, blending secondary research with consultation of primary data in the form of archival research/interviews. It draws attention to the expanded obligations of national intelligence services supplementing their traditional mandates, and of equipping them with greater urgency to meet these kinetically-oriented responsibilities in contemporary geopolitics.
Panel: Cocktail & Poster Session