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Agent of influence

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Agent of influence is a controversial term used to describe people of some stature who are said to use their position to influence public opinion in one country or decision making to produce results beneficial to another.[1]

The term is used both to describe conscious agents operating under the control of an intelligence service and political opponents who may be classed as a "useful idiot" that is, someone, completely unaware of how their actions further the interests of a foreign power.

A related concept is that of a front organization

Critics have argued that the term can be applied to anyone whose political views are disliked by the user.[2]

U.S. government definitions[edit]

  • An agent of some stature who uses their position to influence public opinion or decision making to produce results beneficial to the country whose intelligence service operates the agent (Air Force Office of Special Investigations Manual 71-142).[3]
  • A person who is directed by an intelligence organization to use his or her position to influence public opinion or decision-making in a manner that will advance the objective of the country for which that organization operates (Counterintelligence Glossary—Terms & Definitions of Interest for Department of Defense Counterintelligence Professionals).[3]
  • An individual who acts in the interest of an adversary without an open declaration of allegiance and attempts to exercise influence covertly, but is not necessarily gathering intelligence or compromising classified material, is known as an agent of influence (Historical Dictionary of Cold War Counterintelligence).[3]
  • An agent operating under intelligence instructions who uses his or her officialdom or public position, and other means, to exert influence on policy, public opinion, the course of particular events, the activity of political organizations and state agencies in target countries (KGB Lexicon: The Soviet Intelligence Officer's Handbook, edited by KGB archivist Vasiliy Mitrokhin).[3]
  • The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) was enacted in 1938, and 22 U.S.Code § 611 et seq provides detailed definitions of what constitutes an agent of influence.[4]

Characteristics[edit]

text
Leon Trotsky, who popularized the term "fellow traveller" in 1924. Trotsky would state: "As regards a 'fellow-traveller', the question always comes up—how far will he go?"[5]

As described by users of the concept the primary characteristic that distinguishes agents of influence from spies is the lack of absolute control exercised by the foreign power on an agent of influence. Thus, even in the absence of any direct control the term may be applied to political actors whose views are seen as supporting another country

According to Angelo Codevilla, the work of an agent of influence "can be far more valuable, subtle, and dangerous than that of a mere spy".

[6] As witnessed in the Cold War through "fellow travelers", the best agents of influence were those whose interests paralleled that of the aggressor's and needed little if any coordination.[7] A foreign power can rarely exercise complete control over an agent of influence, as these agents possess their own preferences and motivations; the most proven way to cultivate the desired results is for a foreign power to choose and develop an agent of influence whose interests already align with their own.[7] Overlooking an agent of influence's different motivations can have negative consequences, as witnessed in World War I, when German political warfare strategists sent Vladimir Lenin back to St. Petersburg in an effort to foster domestic instability and get Russia out of the war in 1917.[7] Since Lenin had different motivations and interests than the German government at the time, he acted in a manner not suited to German interests, and grew so powerful that his party was instrumental to bringing down Imperial Germany.[7]

Excessive efforts to control or exploit agents of influence can also have negative consequences. Such agents are best seen as strategic or tactical allies, and efforts to exercise too much control over them may result in the loss of an influence asset.[7] Excessive exploitation of these agents can lead to their exposure by forcing them to take questionably one-sided positions, as witnessed in the exposure of Norwegian Arne Treholt.[8] Because these agents exercise influence, their positions and opinions are not wholly secret, but the level to which they coordinate activities with a hostile power is likely to be kept secret.[9]

Agents of influence are most effective because they bring with them a sense of credibility among the target audience, and they use this credibility to convey a story or manipulate a situation in favor of the foreign power with which they share common preferences and motivations.This credibility makes agents of influence so effective that, according to Angelo Codevilla, using these agents is an act of war "in the same sense that armies crashing across border or airplanes dropping bombs are acts of war because their results can be as intrusive or conclusive as the results of armies or bombs."[10]

Criticism[edit]

Criticising the concept, John Girling writes[2]


'Agents of Influence'is an intriguing conception, whose meaning is as mysterious as its origins, and whose attribution reflects as much on the user as on the 'used*. With its vague and rather sinister undertones of manipulation and deceit such a hybrid expression lends itself easily to innuendo and abuse. It is not surprising, therefore, that the prejudiced or the merely careless should characterise those whose political views they dislike, not as agents of a foreign power (for the allegation lacks any concrete proof), but as 'agents of influence' working *wittingly or unwittingly* either for the American CIA or the Soviet KGB

Alleged agents of influence[edit]

text
Accused agent of influence and convicted spy Arne Treholt
  • Alger Hiss: an agent of influence and spy.[11] At the time of his exposure he had significant support among US politicians and only went to jail for lying under oath about passing documents to the Soviet Union.[11]
  • Arne Herløv Petersen: used as a Soviet agent of influence in Norway for over 10 years, he mainly focused on various means of manipulating Danish public opinion.[12]
  • Arne Treholt: he was exposed as a result of overuse as an agent of influence in taking blatantly one-sided arguments over Norway's northern border.[8]
  • Richard Gott: Guardian journalist who took money from the KGB.
  • David Combe, an Australian political lobbyist was accused of being an "agent of influence" on the basis of a friendship with Soviet diplomat (and accused agent) Valery Ivanov. He was subsequently exonerated. A register of lobbyists was established as a result of these events.[13]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ Reagan, Mark L., ed. (May 2, 2011). "Agent of Influence" (PDF). Terms & Definitions of Interest for DoD Counterintelligence Professionals (Report). p. GL-4. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-04-17.
  2. ^ a b Girling, John (1984). "AGENTS OF INFLUENCE". Australian Journal of International Affairs. 38 (2): 111-114. doi:10.1080/10357718408444845. Retrieved 21 June 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d Mark L. Reagan, "DOD Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms," DTIC Online, May 2, 2011, "Agent of Influence, GL-4", accessed March 10, 2012, http://www.dtic.mil/doctrine/dod_dictionary/ Archived 2016-10-10 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ The Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA), Title 22 U.S.Code § 611 et seq (1938).
  5. ^ Leon Trotsky, "Chapter 2: The Literary 'Fellow-Travellers' of the Revolution", Leon Trotsky: Literature and Revolution, June 1, 2007, http://www.marxists.org/archive/trotsky/1924/lit_revo/ch02.htm.
  6. ^ Angelo M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare: A Set of Means for Achieving Political Ends", in Waller, ed., Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare (IWP Press, 2008), pg. 220.
  7. ^ a b c d e Angelo M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare: A Set of Means for Achieving Political Ends," in Waller, ed., Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare (IWP Press, 2008), pg. 221.
  8. ^ a b Angello M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare," in Political Warfare and Psychological Operations: Rethinking the US Approach, ed. Frank R. Barnett and Carnes Lord (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press in Cooperation with National Strategy Information Center, 1989), pg. 86.
  9. ^ Angello M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare," in Political Warfare and Psychological Operations: Rethinking the US Approach, ed. Frank R. Barnett and Carnes Lord (Washington, DC: National Defense University Press in Cooperation with National Strategy Information Center, 1989), pg. 85.
  10. ^ Angelo M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare: A Set of Means for Achieving Political Ends," in Waller, ed., Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare (IWP Press, 2008), pg. 211.
  11. ^ a b Angelo M. Codevilla, "Political Warfare: A Set of Means for Achieving Political Ends," in Waller, ed., Strategic Influence: Public Diplomacy, Counterpropaganda and Political Warfare (IWP Press, 2008), p. 220.
  12. ^ Thomas N. O'Brien, Russian Roulette: Disinformation in the U.S. Government and News Media, report (Columbia: University of South Carolina, 1989), p. 20.
  13. ^ Bongiorno, Frank. "An indiscreet dinner with a Soviet spy". Inside Story. Retrieved 25 June 2024.

External links[edit]

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