PLEASE NOTE this is a 2013 reading list—the precise content may change in future years.
Term 2, Week 1
Covert Action and Intelligence in a Democratic State
After a general introduction about the course, the seminar will consider the place of covert action
and intelligence in a democratic society. What do we mean by ‘covert action’ and what activities fall
under its mantle? How do they fit alongside the other activities of an intelligence agency? What, if
any, ethical and moral issues need to be considered and to what extent should citizens be made
aware of covert operations? Can the ‘success’ of covert action ever be accurately measured?
Core readings (read at least 3 of the following):

William J. Daugherty, Executive Secrets: Covert Action and the Presidency (Lexington:
University Press of Kentucky, 2006), Chaps.1-5

Roy Godson, Dirty Tricks or Trump Cards: U.S. Covert Action and Counterintelligence (New
Brunswick: Transaction, 2004), chap.4

Loch K. Johnson, Secret Agencies: US Intelligence in a Hostile World (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1996), chap.3

Mark M. Lowenthal, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy [4th Ed] (Washington: CQ Press,
2006), chaps.1, 8

Jeffrey T. Richelson, The U.S. Intelligence Community [5th Ed] (Boulder: Westview, 2008),
chap.16

Abram N. Shulsky & Gary J. Schmit (eds.), Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of
Intelligence [3rd Ed] (Washington: Potomoc, 2002), chaps.4, 6

Gregory Treverton, “Covert Action and Open Society.” Foreign Affairs 65.5 (Summer 1987)

Michael Warner, “Wanted: A Definition of ‘Intelligence,’” Studies in Intelligence 46.3 (2002),
pp.15-22

Supplementary reading:

Christopher Andrew & David Dilks (eds.), The Missing Dimension: Governments and
Intelligence Communities in the 20th Century (London, 1984)

Christopher Andrew, Richard Aldrich & Wesley Wark (eds.), Secret Intelligence: A
Reader (London: Routledge, 2008)

Ray S. Cline, Secrets, Spies and Scholars: Blueprint of the Essential CIA (Washington, 1976)

Peter Gill & Mark Phythian, Intelligence in an Insecure World: Surveillance, Spies and
Snouts (Cambridge: Polity Press, 2006)

Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones & Christopher Andrew (eds.), Eternal Vigilance? 50 Years of the
CIA (London: Frank Cass, 1997) [also available as special issue of Intelligence and National
Security 12.1 (January 1997)]

Loch K. Johnson, America's Secret Power: The CIA in a Democratic Society (New Haven: Yale
University Press, 1989)

John Prados, President's Secret Wars: CIA and Pentagon Covert Operations since World War
II (New York: William Morrow, 1986)

Jeffrey T. Richelson, A Century of Spies: Intelligence in the Twentieth Century (New York:
Oxford University Press, 1997)

Athan Theoharis et al. (eds.), The Central Intelligence Agency: Security Under
Scrutiny (Westport: Greenwoods, 2006)