Defining Counterintelligence. CI, Security and non-governmental actors

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Politics - Topic: Peace and Conflict, Security, grade: N/A, Brunel University, course: Intelligence & Security Studies, language: English, abstract: The issue of the mutual boundaries between Counterintelligence (CI) and Security (Sy) activities and responsibilities has been largely engaged on a theoretical level over the last few decades. However, the lack of an accurate and widely agreed distinction has generated a certain confusion about what the actual distribution of the responsibilities of each activity is in daily practice. As a preliminary discussion, this essay will analyse the responsibilities of both CI agents and Sy officers in order to clarify similarities and differences, arguing that the practice of counterintelligence is not simply an extension of the Sy officer's one, although there are some common duties. Secondly, it will illustrate how these differences apply to different organizations by presenting examples of state (CIA) and non-state (IRA) actors. Finally, it will be argued that the division of responsibilities between CI practitioners and Sy officers lies with the nature of the organization considered, as it appears clearly defined in the state actors, whereas it assumes different forms in the non-state actors.