Intelligence Intervention in the Politics of Democratic States
The United States, Israel, and Britain
412 pages | 6 x 9 | 1995
ISBN 978-0-271-01331-2 | cloth: $91.95 sh
ISBN 978-0-271-01332-9 | paper: $31.95 sh
This book studies intelligence intervention in politics in the modern democratic state. In theory, intelligence work should be objective, autonomous, and free of political influence; at its best, it should be guided solely by the professional ethic of intelligence. In reality, however, unavoidable political pressures, as well as bureaucratic and personal interests, can and often do influence the conduct of intelligence work. In tracing and explaining the effects of these pressures and interests on the behavior of intelligence organizations and individuals, Uri Bar-Joseph analyzes four cases of intelligence intervention in politics: the 1961 Bay of Pigs episode; the 1954 Israeli "Unfortunate Business Affair"; the 1920 British "Henry Wilson Affair"; and the 1924 “Zinoviev Letter Affair."
Uri Bar-Joseph is Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Haifa. He is the author of The Best of Enemies: Israel and Transjordan in the War of 1948 (Cass, 1987) and coeditor (with A. Perlmutter and M. Handel) of Two Minutes Over Baghdad (Corgi, 1982).