Wippl Reviews Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight Against Russian Aggression
Joseph Wippl, Professor of the Practice of International Relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies at Boston University, published an article in the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence reviewing Spymaster’s Prism: The Fight against Russian Aggression.
In the book, author and former spymaster Jack Devine details the unending struggle with Russia and its intelligence agencies as it works against our national security. He seeks to prove that Russia, under a nationalist Vladimir Putin, remains as serious a threat to the United States today as did communism and the Soviet Union before its collapse.
In his article, titled “Cold War Redux,” Wippl agrees with the basic thesis of Devine’s book – “The United States needs a professional intelligence service to collect intelligence through espionage, to engage in covert action when it is in the interest of the United States to do so, to protect its security through counterintelligence, and to recruit into the CIA the best analytical capability possible” – however, where Wippl differs is that he notes the need to focus on “important” rather than “adversarial” objectives. He goes on to detail the various espionage cases Devine describes that have been carried out globally and notes that the U.S. has an obligation to engage in forward-thinking espionage in order to inform foreign policy and collect intelligence on an increasingly dangerous Russia.
The full article can be read on the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence’s website.
Joseph Wippl is a former CIA officer. He spent a 30 year career as an operations officer in the National Clandestine Service (NCS). On assignments in CIA headquarters, he served as the Deputy Chief of Human Resources, as the Senior NCS representative to the Aldrich Ames Damage Assessment Team, as Chief of Europe Division and as the CIA’s Director of Congressional Affairs. Prior to his arrival at Boston University, he occupied the Richard Helms Chair for Intelligence Collection in the NCS training program. Wippl has taught at BU since 2006, and speaks and writes widely on issues regarding intelligence. Read more about him on his Pardee School faculty profile.