The CIA, the KGB, MI5, Mossad, Boss, Savak, Dina – the names read like a rollcall of the seamier side of history in the years following the Second World War. In the 21st century the Cold War is dead; there are fewer dictatorships; and 9.11 has created a whole new raison d’etre for covert action. This volume explains the impact of the war on terrorism on the world’s secret services and intelligence agencies and describes how ultra-modern new technologies have vastly increased their power to spy and eavesdrop. It also reveals the changing priorities and working methods of intelligence services around the world and raises issues including the new roles of the secret services as they target “rogue states”, “the war on drugs”, and “terrorists”. The authors explore the unsolved contradiction between secretive and unaccountable agencies operating on the fringes of the law, and the requirements of a free and democratic society.