A Question of Standing: The History of the CIA

A Question of Standing is a book that discusses the history of the CIA, including its intelligence and analysis work, and its mission to pursue intelligence. It also discusses the CIA's dubious operations and domestic interventions, such as spying on domestic protesters, which led to tighter congressional oversight. The book offers a balanced narrative and perspective on recognizable episodes in the CIA's history and defends the CIA's exposure of foreign meddling in US elections.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 25 August 2022
Publisher: Oxford University Press

A Question of Standing delves into significant events that have shaped the history of the CIA during its first 75 years. Unflinching in its portrayal of covert tactics and their repercussions, the book values the CIA's intelligence and analytical efforts to provide balanced assessments that steer clear of both celebratory and condemnatory perspectives on the agency.

The CIA's mission, rooted in the U-1 during World War I and distinct from the OSS during World War II, has consistently been focused on intelligence gathering. Seventy-five years ago, in the year of its establishment, the National Security Act bestowed upon the CIA a democratic mandate, unparalleled in global history until that point, to pursue its intelligence-driven mission. This unique standing granted the CIA a special role in conducting US foreign relations. However, as successive American presidents expanded the CIA's responsibilities beyond its original mandate, this standing gradually diminished. When the agency was covertly tasked with undermining democratic governments, the United States lost its international credibility and its majority in the United Nations General Assembly. Even the government's embrace of assassination and torture did not erode the CIA's standing in US public opinion. Nevertheless, domestic interventions did. CIA spying on domestic protesters led to increased congressional oversight from the 1970s onward.

The chapters in A Question of Standing present a balanced narrative and perspective on notable episodes in the CIA's history. These include the Bay of Pigs invasion, the War on Terror, 9/11, the weapons of mass destruction deception, the Iran estimate of 2007, the assassination of Osama bin Laden, and Fake News. The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004, while diminishing the CIA's authority, is perceived as the correct solution pursued for the wrong reasons. These reasons emerged from the context of post-9/11 tensions and the desire to address perceived security threats, even if they were partly driven by misguided or misinformed perspectives.

Weight: 428g
Dimension: 145 x 222 x 34 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192847966