Secret Service – Wikipedia

And secret service (often also generically to the plural secret services ) is an organization that belongs to a state, whose work is covered by secret, operating for the purpose of safeguarding national interests through activities of intelligence . Work of espionage abroad, and counterintelligence in your country. Particular relevance has taken on anti -terrorism activity. It may depend on both a military body and on the state civil apparatuses.

The individual person operating in the service of these organizations is defined Secret Agent .

In some ways, the espionage activity is very ancient and is considered in the same way as any other means available to states for the pursuit of their general purposes; followed the genetic parable of the birth and development of the so -called industrial war .

If it is correct to say that modern information services existed already in the eighteenth century, however until the Napoleonic wars were traced to “mobilization” structures, which were born and died around the major states with the explosion of the war (and the subsequent return to peace ). Especially as regards counterintelligence, the fate of the state were remitted to network of diplomats, almost always with modest results. ^[first]

The most important historical period for the affirmation of the secret services as a socio -political realities probably began from the nineteenth century onwards. At this time, in fact, the concept of total war was increasingly predominant, which is why the role of the “services” for the control of the internal front is intuitively grown hand in hand.

Moreover, it is precisely a salient trait of modern war the fact that civilians are increasingly involved in war operations, consequently it is “normal” logical and practical contamination between “officially combat” subjects and “officially non -fighters”, ^[2] So much so that the legal and operational boundaries between the two domains, theoretically distinct and not communicating, is increasingly labile. ^[3]

These bodies can be made up of agencies directly responding to the government of a state. One of the characteristic elements of the secret services is precisely the secrecy, which makes the possible distinctions between the definitions of “secret service”, “espionage agency” or ” intelligence “.

A secret organization can operate openly on its borders and secretly abroad or vice versa. Several states have civil secret services and secret military services, or services that deal with internal security of the country and external safety, in foreign countries. In the western democratic states the names of the secret services are generally made public.

Each state of the world has adopted one or more organization of services; In some cases these entities are grouped in a federation as in the case of United States Intelligence Community US.

• Aldo Giannuli, How secret services work , Ponte delle Grazie, 2012, ISBN 978-88-6220-065-3.
• Giuseppe of lutiis The secret services in Italy. From fascism to 21st century intelligence , Sperling & Kupfer, 2010, ISBN 978-88-200-4727-6.
• Lawrence Bennet, Spying in the Second World War , Lucchi, Milan, 1947
• Born, His Born, Marina Caparini, Democratic Control of Intelligence Services , 0754642739, 9780754642732, 9780754688709 Ashgate Pub Co 2007.