Explore the origins and development of the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States. A post-WW2 organisation, it was tasked with keeping the nation safe and eliciting information about other nations. Often cloaked in secrecy, the scope and breadth of its work both satisfies and scares Americans and foreign nations alike. Who guards the guardians? Explore the issues around this organisation.

DELIVERY MODE

• Face-to-Face

SUGGESTED READING

• The Devil’s Chessboard, Allen Dulles, the CIA and America’s Rise to World Dominance (Harper Collins, 2016) David Talbot, ISBN 0062276174
• Poisoner in Chief, Sidney Gottlieb and the Search for Mind Control by the CIA, (Henry Holt, 2019) Stephen Kinzer, ISBN 1250140439
• The CIA : A Question of Standing (Oxford Press 2022), Rhodi Jeffreys-Jones, ISBN 0192847951

COURSE OUTLINE

• Origins of the CIA from the OSS 1943-1947
• Immediate national security concerns of the USA post WW 2
• Covert operations by the CIA including Iran, Congo, Chile and Vietnam, Operation Paperclip, the MK Ultra Mind Control Program and the impact of CIA intervention
• Methods of operation by the CIA including destabilisng of regimes, rigging elections, targeted assassinations and the installation of “puppet governments”
• Key National Security issues for the USA in 2024 including the legacy of 9/11

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course, students should be able to:

1. Discuss the complexities involved in national security issues for a western democratic government
2. Understand the driving forces behind American Foreign Policy since 1947
3. Evaluate the legacy of some key personnel involved in the last 77 years including CIA Director Allen Dulles, CIA scientist Sidney Gottlieb and President George W Bush