Intelligence Agencies
From Gothpoodle
National power is still exercised through national intelligence agencies. The following are some of the most important such agencies on Earth. Others are mentioned in Transhuman Space.
Australian Secret Intelligence Service (Australia): The ASIS is one of the most effective espionage centers on Earth, and is particularly active in south and southeast Asia.
Bundesnachrichtendienst (Germany): The BND (or Federal Intelligence Service) is Germany’s main intelligence bureau. German intelligence is most active in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where it is deeply involved in further expansion of the European Union.
Central Intelligence Agency (United States): Still the foremost foreign-intelligence agency of the United States, although off-planet operations are in the hands of the SIA.
Direction Centrale des Renseignements Généraux (France): Over time, the General Information Service has become the primary intelligence arm of the French government. It is primarily concerned with defense against memetic attack, but since the 2060s it has also developed a significant espionage role.
General Intelligence Directorate (Saudi Arabia): The GID acts as the main intelligence organization for Saudi Arabia and the Islamic Caliphate as a whole. As part of the Caliphate’s memetic-defense strategy, the GID has incorporated the religious Mutawi’yyun or “Committees for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice.”
Intelligence Bureau (India): India’s main domestic intelligence agency, primarily concerned with memetic defense and the suppression of political radicals. Has a long reputation for monitoring the private communications of Indian citizens. Claims to be the modern world’s oldest intelligence agency.
Komitet Gosudarstvennoi Bezopasnosti (Kazakstan): Kazakstan still maintains a KGB, which shares many features of the old Soviet agency (although it performs both domestic and foreign intelligence functions). This incarnation of the KGB is particularly well-funded and effective, with activities all over Europe and Asia.
Ministry of Public Security (China): China’s primary internal security agency, carrying most of the country’s police authority and a large counterintelligence mission.
National Intelligence Agency (South Africa): South Africa’s central foreign intelligence organization. One of the best in the world at using biotechnology in support of intelligence operations.
National Technical Intelligence Bureau (United States): The NTIB replaced the old National Security Agency in the early 2010s, and currently serves as the main American agency dealing with signals intelligence and memetic defense.
Public Security Investigation Agency (Japan): The PSIA is Japan’s foremost counterintelligence organization, dedicated to rooting out spies and enemy memetic engineers.
Research and Intelligence Wing (India): India’s most powerful foreign intelligence agency, known for its willingness to take ruthless action to fend off threats to Indian interests.
Secret Intelligence Service (United Kingdom): “MI6” remains the main British foreign-intelligence agency. The U.K. makes no distinction between Earthside and space-based intelligence operations, so the SIS is active anywhere that British interests are at stake.
