The Cold War

The hardest and most bitterly fought confrontation between the Soviet Union and the western democracies during the 50 years of the Cold War was on the espionage front. In this arena the KGB, the 'sword and the shield' of the USSR, confronted its principal adversaries - the Central Intelligence Agency of the United States (CIA) and the British Secret Intelligence Service (SIS).

The aim of each was to steal the secrets of the other side, to try to peer inside the mind of the enemy, to fathom his intentions, and to neutralise them before they could be executed. The soldiers in this war were the spymasters, the spies and their agents, all of whom operated in a world of shadows where deception and betrayal flourished. Spies could become double agents and the whole story has developed a rather romantic image as a result of Western film portrayals of spies. However, for all of them spying was far from romantic – it was a highly dangerous job and many worked knowing that there was barely any chance of being rescued if caught. A few were exchanged for other spies – but prison or execution were the more usual punishments for being caught – either by betrayal or making errors.

During the spy war it was impossible to write authoritatively about it. But when Communism collapsed and the Cold War ended, this is exactly what did occur.

Espionage during the Cold War prompted rapid technological advancements. The lack of geographical information on the Soviet Union encouraged the improvement of satellite imagery technology. During the World War II the United States realized the importance of having a unified intelligence agency, prior to the development of the Office of Strategic Services each branch of the military had their own intelligence services.

The OSS was established on June 13th 1942 and was the United States’ first attempt at a centralized intelligence agency . They specialized in clandestine operations, often behind enemy lines. After the war the OSS was converted into a peacetime intelligence service known as the Central Intelligence Service or CIA.

The CIA’s main mandate during the Cold Was an intense Anti-Communist policy. Because this policy aligned with America’s viewpoint in general the CIA was granted near unlimited power. They were extremely powerful for what was essentially a civilian organization. They took extreme actions such organizing Operation Ajax; a coup in Iran that overthrew a democratically elected government all in order to contain Communism. They were mainly concerned with the gathering of intelligence and recruitment of agents in communist nations mainly the USSR.

Founded in 1954, the Komityet Gosudarstvjennoj Biezopasnosti (Committee for State Security) or KGB is commonly considered the CIA’s Soviet counterpart, however their role was broader serving as the USSR’s security agency, secret police, and intelligence agency. 
They are often considered the world’s most effective intelligence agency and were often the embodiment of Western fear of the Soviet Union
Their agents successfully penetrated many foreign intelligence agency's and operated in foreign nations with diplomatic immunity.