Principled Spying – the Ethics of Secret Intelligence

This superb and highly informative book is a dialogue and exposition between Sir David Omand, former director of GCHQ, and Mark Phythian, a professor of politics. It probes and analyses with many historical and contemporary examples the legitimacy of secret intelligence in the light of the tension between security or protection and privacy, that between secrecy and transparency as well as the relationship between citizen and state. The discussion is all the more relevant in the light of the developments over the last few years, including the release of the Snowden material from the US NSA and the dodgy dossier justifying the Iraq war. The book succeeds in its aim of providing an ethical framework for public policy relating to the intelligence services in the new context of digital intelligence in cyberspace.

A key contribution of the book lies in extending the notion of the just war to just intelligence using the key criteria of just cause, right intention, proportionality, right authority, reasonable prospect of success, discrimination and necessity - much of this is considered in a consequentialist perspective, and all these factors are rigorously analysed. There are chapters on secret agency and covert human resources as well as on the ethics of using intelligence, which will always be ambivalent but necessary when hostile powers or individuals are secretly plotting destructive activities. Findings can improve the quality of decision-making by reducing ignorance.

There is a balanced consideration of the use of drones, in which Sir David has special expertise. The authors recommend a new social compact involving building confidence through oversight and accountability using not only legal but also ethical frameworks. This is summarised in a series of bullet points within the context of liberal societies and heralding a potentially new era in the democratic control of secret intelligence activity while having no illusions about the reality of campaigns such as that of Putin supporting Trump in the 2016 US elections – Trump's extensive business connections with Russia are extensively documented in a revealing July 22 posting from Avaaz. The book is essential reading for an informed and ethical view of intelligence that lives up to its title.