This book is the first comprehensive study of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). The rise of Pakistan-backed religious extremist groups in Afghanistan, India, and Central Asia has focused international attention on Pakistan's premier intelligence organization and covert action advocate, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate or ISI. While ISI is regarded as one of the most powerful government agencies in Pakistan today, surprisingly little has been written about it from an academic perspective. This book addresses critical gaps in our understanding of this agency, including its domestic security mission, covert backing of the Afghan Taliban, and its links to al-Qa'ida. Using primary source materials, including declassified intelligence and diplomatic reporting, press reports and memoirs, this book explores how ISI was transformed from a small, negligible counter intelligence outfit of the late-1940s into the national security behemoth of today with extensive responsibilities in domestic security, political interference and covert action. This study concludes that reforming or even eliminating ISI will be fundamental if Pakistan is to successfully transition from an army-run, national security state to a stable, democratic society that enjoys peaceful relations with its neighbours. This book will be of interest to students of intelligence studies, South Asian politics, foreign policy and international security in general.

This book analyzes how the Egyptian intelligence community has adapted to shifting national security threats since its inception 100 years ago. Starting in 1910, when the modern Egyptian intelligence system was created to deal with militant nationalists and Islamists, the book shows how the security services were subsequently reorganized, augmented and centralized to meet an increasingly sophisticated array of challenges, including fascism, communism, army unrest, Israel, France, the United Kingdom, conservative Arab states, the Muslim Brotherhood and others. The book argues that studying Egypt's intelligence community is integral to our understanding of that country's modern history, regime stability and human rights record. Intelligence studies have been described as the 'missing dimension' of international relations. It is clear that intelligence agencies are pivotal to understanding the nature of many Arab regimes and their decision-making processes, and there is no published history of modern Egyptian intelligence in either a European language or in Arabic, though Egypt has the largest and arguably most effective intelligence community in the Arab world. This book will fill a clear gap in the intelligence literature and will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, Middle Eastern politics, international security and IR in general.

This book analyzes how the Egyptian intelligence community has adapted to shifting national security threats since its inception 100 years ago.

Starting in 1910, when the modern Egyptian intelligence system was created to deal with militant nationalists and Islamists, the book shows how the security services were subsequently reorganized, augmented and centralized to meet an increasingly sophisticated array of challenges, including fascism, communism, army unrest, Israel, France, the United Kingdom, conservative Arab states, the Muslim Brotherhood and others.

The book argues that studying Egypt's intelligence community is integral to our understanding of that country's modern history, regime stability and human rights record. Intelligence studies have been described as the ?missing dimension? of international relations. It is clear that intelligence agencies are pivotal to understanding the nature of many Arab regimes and their decision-making processes, and there is no published history of modern Egyptian intelligence in either a European language or in Arabic, though Egypt has the largest and arguably most effective intelligence community in the Arab world.

This book will fill a clear gap in the intelligence literature and will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, Middle Eastern politics, international security and IR in general.

Egyptian efforts to acquire long-range surface-to-surface missiles in the early 1960s carry important lessons for our time, when weapons of mass destruction and charges of politicizing intelligence are key issues. This new study traces the history of the early Egyptian ballistic missile program, which began with the successful recruitment of German scientists who had experience in Hitler's V1 and V2 missile projects. Yet even as these Germans began their work on developing missiles for Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser, Israeli intelligence was busy collecting information on their activities. Indeed, this intelligence sparked a crisis in the Israeli leadership; Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion, Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, and other top Israeli officials anxiously debated strategies to grapple with this new threat to their national security. Ultimately, they adopted a multifaceted approach that included intimidation of the scientists and their families, appeals to the West German government to order the scientists' recall and, finally, an attempt to involve the U.S. government in the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Drawing extensively on material from recently declassified U.S. government documents, this new major work demonstrates how Nasser's missile program played an instrumental role in cementing the U.S.-Israeli national security relationship. The book concludes with several key lessons that can help stem the global proliferation of advanced weapons. This book will be of great interest to scholars of proliferation, international relations, the Middle East, disarmament and security studies in general.

This book demonstrates how Egyptian efforts to acquire long-range surface-to-surface missiles in the early 1960s provide an important case study in the field of ballistic missile proliferation and carry important lessons for the present-day scourge of weapons of mass destruction. It first traces the history of the early Egyptian ballistic missile program, beginning with the successful recruitment of German scientists who had prior experience in Hitler's V1 and V2 missile projects. It then demonstrates how Israel directed its formidable security apparatus to collect intelligence on and defeat Egypt's missile ambitions and how this intelligence sparked a crisis in the Israeli leadership as Israeli officials anxiously debated strategies to grapple with this new threat to their national security and finally adopted a multifaceted approach that focused on intimidating the scientists and their families, appealing to the West German government to order the scientists' recall, and attempting to get the US government involved in the intricacies of the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Drawing on material from recently declassified US government documents, this volume demonstrates how Nasser's missile program played an instrumental role in cementing the US-Israeli national security relationship and concludes with several important lessons for the global proliferation of ballistic missile technologies.
This book will be of great interest to scholars of proliferation, international relations, the Middle East, disarmament and security studies in general.

This book is the first comprehensive study of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate (ISI). The rise of Pakistan-backed religious extremist groups in Afghanistan, India, and Central Asia has focused international attention on Pakistan's premier intelligence organization and covert action advocate, the Inter-Services Intelligence Directorate or ISI. While ISI is regarded as one of the most powerful government agencies in Pakistan today, surprisingly little has been written about it from an academic perspective. This book addresses critical gaps in our understanding of this agency, including its domestic security mission, covert backing of the Afghan Taliban, and its links to al-Qa'ida. Using primary source materials, including declassified intelligence and diplomatic reporting, press reports and memoirs, this book explores how ISI was transformed from a small, negligible counter intelligence outfit of the late-1940s into the national security behemoth of today with extensive responsibilities in domestic security, political interference and covert action. This study concludes that reforming or even eliminating ISI will be fundamental if Pakistan is to successfully transition from an army-run, national security state to a stable, democratic society that enjoys peaceful relations with its neighbours. This book will be of interest to students of intelligence studies, South Asian politics, foreign policy and international security in general.