CIA Rivals: What are the 10 most powerful spy agencies in the world

For more than a century, all the major countries of the world except the USA developed and cultivated secret intelligence services. America's unwritten national code of ethics could not tolerate or encourage espionage. In late 1929, this kind of attitude was expressed in Secretary of State Henry Stimson's remark when Herbert Yardley offered him copies of foreign documents: "Real gentlemen don't read each other's mail!"

However, secret intelligence services developed very quickly in the US. After World War II, President Harry Truman disbanded the Office of Strategic Services (OSS 1941-1945) arguing that no American agency needed to conduct international espionage, until of course the Kremlin-driven Cold War began. Alarmed by the worldwide espionage carried out by the Soviet Union, Truman signed the National Security Act in 1947 creating the CIA as the permanent spy agency of the US government.

The CIA's technique was no different from that used by other intelligence agencies. These included bribery, blackmail, disinformation, negative propaganda, guerrilla warfare, sabotage and even assassination. The CIA is now the world's most powerful spy agency. With the end of the Cold War, the CIA had no rivals. But this is wrong. Spy agencies are busier than ever. They have simply changed their name, strategy and priorities, but they have never given up their destination. In fact, starting with the re-dimensioning of the Russian secret services, which is now tasked with protecting Russia's commercial interests, continuing with those of China with industrial espionage,

But who are the CIA's rivals?

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (SVR)

Country: Russia

Area of ??competence: Officially, anti-terrorism and protection of Russian trade interests. Unofficially, the consolidation of political power.

Activities: Russia has a wonderful tradition of espionage dating back to the Tsarist era. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, the once all-powerful KGB crumbled into various small organizations with very limited powers. Since former KGB agent Vladimir Putin took power, however, the SVR, or Sluzhba Vneshney Razvedk, as it is known in Russia, has reclaimed much of its past. Russian espionage inside the United States has now returned to Cold War levels, US officials believe. Peter Earnest, the executive director of the International Espionage Museum in Washington, who played smart with the KGB while a CIA operative for more than three decades, shares this assessment. "They are as important today as they were in the past, if not more," he says.

MINISTRY OF STATE SECURITY

Country: China

Area of ??competence: Industrial espionage and data analysis, internal security

Activities: The MSS is a closed structure like the Soviet KGB, and is responsible for internal security and foreign espionage. Its activities abroad are believed to be aggressively focused against the United States, particularly in its high-tech industry and military technology sectors. Rather than relying on a small handful of agents, the MSS has a potential intelligence asset and gathers intelligence on new weapons systems very carefully over time through personal contacts. "Chinese espionage is different from Western espionage," says Earnest. “We go after secrets sometimes; they go after the numbers. They pick up a few small pieces and put it together. "Sources often do not realize that they have cooperated with a foreign spy mission,

RESEARCH AND ANALYSIS ARM

Country: India

Area of ??competence: Destabilization of Pakistan

Activities: RAW was established in 1968 specifically to counter the support of Pakistani militant groups in India, but over the years it has grown to become one of the world's top intelligence services, with operations ranging from Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh and other countries. It is particularly active in Bangladesh, where it played a key role in that country's independence movement from Pakistan. Pakistani authorities often blame RAW for terrorist attacks in their country. Although these accusations lack evidence, RAË does not have a history of supporting militant groups in Kashmir, Afghanistan, and Sri Lanka. The last few years have not been easy for RAË. In 1996, RAW was implicated in a scandal involving illegal donations to US congressional campaigns.

INTELLIGENCE SERVICE

Country: Pakistan

Area of ??competence: Destabilization of India

Activities: Sometimes described as a state within a state with virtually no control, the ISI is well known for the tight control it exercises over Pakistan's politics and its role in military protection from domestic opposition. But the ISI has also been accused of playing both sides in the global war on terrorism, and complicity abroad. With Indian anti-proliferation propaganda in Kashmir or funding separatists like in Punjab, the ISI has consistently undermined stability in India for decades. India has accused the ISI of involvement in dozens of terror attacks over the years, including the 2006 Mumbai attacks that killed 187 people. At the same time, the ISI has been working with the US and allies to fight Al Qaeda and the Taliban inside Pakistan.

SECRET INTELLIGENCE SERVICE (MI6)

Country: Britain

Area of ??competence: Anti-terrorism, James Bond nostalgia

Activities: After a decade of budget cuts during the "peace break" years after the Cold War, Her Majesty's Secret Service was caught somewhat unprepared for the challenges of the war on terrorism. On 9/11, only 30 of MI6's 1,600 agents were working on counter-terrorism. Since then, the agency has been on a recruiting spree that includes previously unheard of measures, such as taking out newspaper ads and allowing agents to give interviews. This is a far cry from the days of the Cold War, when undercover recruits were singled out from Oxford and Cambridge as the best and brightest for secret service work. Despite the beauty of the offensive, MI6 has been attacked by the British media for participating in the torture of suspected terrorists alongside the CIA abroad. Kremlin officials have also accused MI6 of trying to influence Russia's domestic politics. MI6's activities may not be as expansive as they once were, but Earnest characterizes this as "a shift in priorities" toward Middle East terrorism, "rather than a decline."

MOSSAD

Country: Israel

Area of ??competence: Combating Islamic terrorism, evacuation of Jewish refugees

Activities: Since it was founded in 1951, the "Institute," as it is translated in English, has earned a reputation for exceptional skill and aggressiveness in the fight against Israel's enemies. Some of its most notable achievements include the kidnapping of Nazi leader Adolf Eichmann from Argentina in 1960, the assassination of the assassination planners at the 1972 Munich Olympics, and the assassination of a senior Hamas operative with an explosive cell phone in 1996. Mossad has also been active over the years in efforts to help Jewish refugees seeking to immigrate to Israel, including the secret airlift of thousands of Ethiopian Jews in "Operation Moses" in 1984. The Mossad has made some moves toward transparency and openness. greatest in the 1990s,

BND

Country: Germany

Area of ??competence: International communication espionage, counter-terrorism, internal security

The Federal Intelligence Service is the main intelligence agency in Germany that acts as an early warning system to notify the German government of various threats made against it. The main weapon of this agency is the electronic surveillance of international communication. BND agents are spread all over the world, and reach a figure of 4 thousand people.

ASIS

Country: Australia

Area of ??Competence: Discovering developments around the world

The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS) oversees the discovery of developments occurring around the world, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region. Although Australia is relatively insulated from global terror, ASIS still works 24/7 to protect the country's political and economic interests. The existence of ASIS, founded in 1952, was a secret even from its own government for more than twenty years.

DGSE

Country: France

Area of ??competence: Anti-terrorism

France's Directorate General for External Security (DGSE) was established in 1982 to gather information from foreign sources to assist in military and strategic decisions. Not as well-known as the CIA or Mossad, the DGSE claims to have thwarted more than 15 terrorist attacks in France since September 11, 2001, reports say. The agency has a network of around 5,000 agents spread throughout France and around the world.