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Does anyone know if the number of spies has decreased or increased since the end of the Cold War, and how the role of the spy has changed as well?Also, I recall hearing at the International Spy Museum that Washington D.C. has something like more spies in it than anywhere else in the world. Is this true? Anyone heard anything similar or different?
If I told you I would have to….. never mind.I would have to think it would be on the decline, maybe not by much, but I cant see why there would be more now.Should we take it as a complement that there are more spies in Washington then anywhere else?
I'd say the activity is as bad as it ever was. I'm sure the Iranians, Israelis, Russians, British, French, Germans, Chinese, and any other country who can afford large espionage budgets still send operatives out to gather intelligence and technology secrets. I'm sure we have not decreased our spying on others.
Where would one go to find out? Spying by it's very nature is secretive, it's not like they post statistics. So any thing I read about I would have to take with a grain of salt. On the other hand, since it is a secretive occupation, for every one we know of theres probably five more we dont.
I'm sure that the government has enough practice studying the field to know how to track things – perhaps not everything, but some things. For example, if you deliberately feed misinformation (say an incorrect code to access a certain database) you might be able to tell how quickly this code was used to try to gain access. From there you can also narrow down the people who received that information, and try to understand things about the leak. This is just an example but I'm sure things can be done.The U.S. has a long history of spying so I'm sure it knows how to spy and how to catch a spy.
Define spies. Are you talking about intelligence gatherers, infiltrators, counterespionage, psyops, analysts, anthropologists? I don't think anyone would ever know the answer, even those involved in it. Security clearance is only for what you are assigned. (unless it's NATO clearance). A Top Secret clearance does not give one access to everything that's classified. The number of people employed by CIA or NSA is not made public, nor should it be IMO.This is just my thoughts; I don't think a majority of CIA personnel know what NSA, FBI, State Dept,or military intelligence personnel are doing or where they are working. The IC shares data, but other than the respective directors, I seriously doubt they share how that data was attained and who attained it.
I would define a spy along the lines of an agent working for a nation/organization within the borders or circle of influence of another nation/organization without that nation/organization's knowledge and against the interests of that nation/organization. This definition may need some tweaking but it should cover general spymanship. You're right, I think the only people who would have knowledge of all agents is the man at the top, and even that number may be a bit off (e.g. “black ops” agents or whatnot). However, think there are going to be estimates that are available even to the public. This is probably how I heard the statement about the number of spies in Washington, D.C.
