The #counterintelligence challenge lies in not just the identification of penetrations, breaches, operations, and preventing/stopping them, but in understanding their purpose, manipulating them (not thru traditional law enforcement), and turning them back on the adversary.
The very nature of #counterintelligence vis a vis Strategic Deception is dynamic. It isn’t about intelligence gathering for a defined period or particular target set.
Must be fluid (& mostly covert/clandestine) because the assumption is you have been penetrated & compromised.
With regards to counterintelligence strategy, doctrine, & execution, view the primary threats to the West, Russia & China, separately while remaining vigilent of cross currents.
To understand wilderness of mirrors created by RIS/China, it's necessary to consider strategic outlook as well as strategic timelines. They are different for Russia v. China, vis a vis scope, scale, type, purpose of intel. operations, & in turn inform #counterintelligence threat.
For sake of clarity in this ongoing thread, which I am titling;
I will focus on Russian intelligence activity/history and touch on China/others when cross currents are possible, likely, or evident.
Whether looking at wilderness of mirrors thru open source material (or other) it is critical to assume the view is of a component piece.
e.g. Why is GRU tasked w/ xyz operation, when more clandestine methods available? Method informs not just intent but raises other questions.
First, however, I will examine 4 periods since WW2 that inform how we got here. These periods mark when/how the intelligence landscape was shaped by Soviet, now Russian, #StrategicDeception, fundamentally distorting history & why today US #counterintelligence is at a crossroads.
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