Calling A Spade, A Spade: A Return To “Counterespionage” From “Counter-Intelligence”

This paper argues that our theorising of ‘counter-intelligence’ leaves much to be desired. It maintains that in terms of engagement with the concept, current theory lags far behind our understanding of intelligence – which itself has frequently been accused of being ‘under-theorised’ in definitional debates. By carefully assessing current works on counter-intelligence theory and practice, and interrogating this theorising, I find three flaws that are necessarily in need of being addressed. First, I argue that previous authors have all attempted to locate the essence of ‘counter-intelligence’ in its activities and not in its goal. Second, the article demonstrates that the overwhelming majority of scholars who have engaged in setting the boundaries and defining counter-intelligence have worked, or currently work within the US intelligence community. This US intelligence practitioner emphasis in the literature not only undermines the integrity of the concept as it results in mono-cultural understanding but, more profoundly, it has sanitised our understanding of the concept. Thus, lastly, I argue – by exploring contemporary developments in security services – that activities from these state bureaucracies are best defined by a return to ‘counterespionage’ and a move away from ‘counter-intelligence’.