Out of the ashes of WWII and into the heat of the Cold War was born an agency without limits or bounds. Based on the critically acclaimed book The Agency, by John Ranelagh, CIA: The Secret Files exposes some of the unwritten rules that have governed this vast organization. From interviews with past CIA directors to the CIA dissidents who came in from the cold, uncover here the secret wars, arranged coups, and plotted assassinations executed by America's most cloak-and-dagger arm of government. CIA: The Secret Files would be useful for classes on World History, Foreign Affairs, Political Science, History of Science and Technology, Cold War Culture. It is appropriate for high school and college.

Part I, High-Tech, Low Cunning

At the onset of the Cold War, the Iron Curtain stymied conventional espionage. CIA sources deep inside Communist countries stayed mum out of fear of reprisal from their own paranoid governments. To gain the upper hand, the Agency needed an edge, and technology was the answer. In 1960, the experimental U-2 spy plane launched the intelligence community into the modern era of super-sophisticated surveillance. It collected more than any man or machine before it. Hi-Tech, Low Cunning details the story of the dramatic revolution in espionage as seen through the eyes of former CIA and KGB operatives.

Vocabulary

• cunning
• colleagues
• refugees
• apprised
• interrogation
• adversary
• asylum
• ingenious
• vector
• reconnaissance
• deploy
• quantum
• surveillance
• fracas
• coup
• clandestine
• infiltrate
• polygraph
• volatile
• forte

Discussion Questions

1. The CIA is the product of the Cold War between the East and the West. What is meant by the term Cold War? How is a "cold" war different from a "hot" war?
2. The term "Iron Curtain" was coined by Winston Churchill after WWII. What did Churchill mean by this term?
3. Why did Berlin provide the perfect base for the first CIA operatives?
4. Espionage, like any other business, has been affected by the rapid rate of technological advancements. How did technology change the business of espionage?
5. What was the purpose of the Soviet Union displaying captured American spy apparatus to the rest of the world?
6. In 1962, the world held its breath as American President John Kennedy and Soviet Premier Nikita Krushev came to the brink of nuclear war over the Cuban Missile Crisis. Discuss the possible alternative outcomes of the Cuban Missile Crisis.
7. English writer Ian Fleming created one of the most enduring and popular characters of the twentieth century, James Bond. How is James Bond a product of the Cold War?

Extended Activities

1. View any James Bond movie that appeals to you (or perhaps one can be viewed together as a class) and compare the character of James Bond and real life espionage agents.

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