Intelligence Agencies of the World
How the world's major intelligence agencies operate, from signals collection and human espionage to covert action and analysis.
The Intelligence Landscape
Every major state maintains intelligence services tasked with collecting information about threats, providing analysis to decision-makers, and sometimes conducting covert operations. The United States has the world's largest intelligence community, comprising 18 agencies with a combined budget exceeding $90 billion. The CIA handles human intelligence and covert action abroad. The NSA conducts signals intelligence, intercepting electronic communications worldwide. The FBI handles domestic counterintelligence and counterterrorism.
Britain's MI6 (Secret Intelligence Service) specializes in human intelligence abroad, while GCHQ handles signals intelligence. Together with the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, they form the Five Eyes alliance, the world's most extensive intelligence-sharing arrangement. Israel's Mossad is renowned for targeted operations and human intelligence in the Middle East. Russia's FSB handles domestic security, while the SVR conducts foreign intelligence and the GRU manages military intelligence.