10. Australian Secret Intelligence services
The Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASI) was established in 1952 and is headquartered in Canberra, Australia’s Australian Capital Territory. The Australian Secret Intelligence Service, or ASIS, is a federal intelligence agency in Australia that collects foreign intelligence, conducts counterintelligence operations, and collaborates with other intelligence agencies across the world. Even its own government was unaware of the agency’s existence for more than two decades. However, once it became well-known, it was investigated by the Royal Commission three times for its operations, in 1974, 1983, and 1994.
9. ISI
The organisation was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Islamabad. The Directorate for Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) of Pakistan is one of the world’s most notorious secret service organisations. Officially, the ISI is in charge of supplying security intelligence to Pakistan’s government; yet, it is also suspected of fomenting unrest in India. The ISI, which is currently led by Zaheer ul-Islam, is considered to wield enormous power inside Pakistan’s bureaucracy.
8. RAW
The Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) was founded in 1968 and primarily centred its activities in India’s immediate neighbourhood. However, as New Delhi’s geopolitical objectives have changed, it has expanded its wings to other regions across the world. The headquarters of the organisation are in New Delhi. Its chief reports directly to the Prime Minister, and its functions are not subject to Parliament’s oversight. The RAW is thought to employ around 8,000 field operatives around the world, and is often referred to as an effective tool of India’s national might.
7. General Directorate for External Security
DGES is France’s foreign intelligence organisation, which operates under the control of the French Ministry of Defense. It was formed in 1982. The DCRI (Central Directorate of Interior Intelligence) collaborates with the agency, which has one of the most unique logos. In the DGSE’s emblem, the bird of prey depicts the agency’s sovereignty, operational capabilities, international operational nature, and efficiency. In the logo, France is shown as a sanctuary, while the lines represent the DGES’ networks.
6. The Bundesnachrichtendienst
The Federal Intelligence Service (BND), abbreviated as Bundesnachrichtendienst, is Germany’s foreign intelligence agency. The BND headquarters, which is the world’s largest intelligence headquarters, is located in central Berlin. The BND collects and analyses data on a wide range of topics, including international terrorism, WMD proliferation, and illegal technology transfer, among others. It absorbed the “Gehlen Organization,” a clandestine intelligence organisation created by Major General Reinhard Gehlen after WWII and working with US intelligence services. It was established in April 1956.
5. Ministry of State Security
MSS was established in China on July 1, 1983. The Ministry of State Security is China’s security agency, whose mission is to maintain the country’s security by taking efficient actions against hostile agents, spies, and other threats. The China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations (CICIR), which is run by the Ministry of State Security, features various scholars who do research and analysis as well as consult with foreign officials.
4. SVR RF
The Russian Federation’s Foreign Intelligence Service, or also known as SVR RF, is Russia’s external intelligence agency, with an emphasis on civilian issues. In December 1991, the SVR RF took over the KGB’s First Chief Directorate (PGU). The SVR’s headquarters are in Moscow’s Yasenevo District. The SVR, unlike the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB), is responsible for intelligence and espionage operations outside of Russia. The Russian External Intelligence Service (SVR) is the present version of the KGB, one of the world’s oldest and largest spy agencies. The SVR now presents itself as a “modern special service” that “employs smart, ambitious professionals who are committed to the Motherland and their military duty.”
3. Mossad
The Mossad, or Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations, is Israel’s national intelligence organisation and one of the world’s most formidable secret service agencies. Mossad, like the CIA, has active agents all around the world who are tasked with gathering intelligence, conducting covert operations, and ‘safeguarding Jews and Jewish interests.’ Famous surgeries include: Mossad discovered the Nazi chief Adolf Eichmann in Argentina in 1960. He was brought into Israel illegally, tried, and killed. Mossad was a key player in Operation Entebbe, a counter-terrorist hostage-rescue mission carried out by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) commandos at Entebbe Airport in Uganda in 1976 to free kidnapped Israelis.
2. MI6
The Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6, is in charge of gathering foreign intelligence for the United Kingdom. It gives the government a global clandestine capability for promoting and defending the country’s national security and economic well-being. MI6, one of the oldest intelligence agencies, was founded in 1909 and has existed in various forms since Sir Francis Walsingham, who became Queen Elizabeth I’s minister of state, established a secret agency in 1569. Commander (later Sir) Mansfield Cumming established it in its current shape in 1909 as part of Britain’s attempt to coordinate intelligence activities prior to the onset of World War I. Even now, the agency assists elite agencies such as the CIA in their tasks. MI6 headquarters is in London.
1. CIA
The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the United States of America is the largest secret service in the world, if not the greatest. One of the key reasons for America’s global dominance is the CIA. This agency is critical in maintaining the United States’ status as a superpower and mediating foreign policy intelligence and analysis across the country. The CIA formerly had a fictitious firm called “Air America,” which pretended to be a commercial airline but was used to perform military activities in Laos, the Indochina border, and other places. It was established in 1947. Its Headquarters are in Langley, Virginia.