Intelligence & Espionage

Up until a few months ago, our church had the unusual opportunity to hold our weekly services at the International…

The NBA’s groveling reaction to Daryl Morey’s high crime of tweeting “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong” sent shockwaves…

The US created today’s system of global exchange. Now, Beijing is manipulating it to subvert American security, prosperity, and values.

If we cannot agree on what is true and where to find the truth—even on whether there’s such a thing as truth—how can we develop, build support for, and carry out policies that defend our nation and deter our enemies?

Two Christian schools of thought might support covert operations and espionage: the just war tradition and a kind of “dirty hands” moralism. The dirty hands view says all those in political power must unavoidably resort to evil for the common good. The just war tradition has a different approach.

When is lying permissible in war? Mark Coppenger indicates several instances in the Christian just war tradition but insists there is no room for perfidy or treachery.

There is no nation in which we can place total faith.

John Brennan, who could be credibly blamed as one of the waterboarding program’s chief supporters, seems to escape with little to no blame, while Gina Haspel, who was carrying out the orders of her higher-ups, gets accused of moral impropriety because she was tasked with implementing their plan.

Following the Christian just war tradition, could the assassination of Syria’s Bashar al-Assad be justified, despite its illegal nature?