The Role of Foreign Intelligence Agencies in Cold War Coups  d'État: A Comparative Case Study of Iran and Afghanistan

Intelligence agencies have been traditionally depicted as rogue elements within the state apparatus. In this thesis, I assess the validity of this alleged independent agency during the ‘Golden Age’ of convert operations: the Cold War. Throughout the said period, more subversive and clandestine activities became the norm instead of the erstwhile use of direct military force. The two most active Intelligence Agencies of the period, the CIA and the KGB were key actors in supporting and executing government overthrows mostly throughout the Third World. The two case studies I examine are the CIA coup against the Mohammed Mossadegh government in Iran in 1953 and the KGB overthrow of Hafizullah Amin in Afghanistan in 1979. However, my concern is not only the agencies’ role in carrying out the coups d’état but how they influenced the decision-making process within their foreign policy making bodies (the US National Security Council and the Soviet Politburo) to make these coups happen in the...Show moreIntelligence agencies have been traditionally depicted as rogue elements within the state apparatus. In this thesis, I assess the validity of this alleged independent agency during the ‘Golden Age’ of convert operations: the Cold War. Throughout the said period, more subversive and clandestine activities became the norm instead of the erstwhile use of direct military force. The two most active Intelligence Agencies of the period, the CIA and the KGB were key actors in supporting and executing government overthrows mostly throughout the Third World. The two case studies I examine are the CIA coup against the Mohammed Mossadegh government in Iran in 1953 and the KGB overthrow of Hafizullah Amin in Afghanistan in 1979. However, my concern is not only the agencies’ role in carrying out the coups d’état but how they influenced the decision-making process within their foreign policy making bodies (the US National Security Council and the Soviet Politburo) to make these coups happen in the first place. By using the Bureaucratic Politics paradigm and other theoretical tools regarding the execution of coups d’état I underline how these intelligence agencies not only carried them but also were the main agents provocateurs behind the decision to intervene.Show less

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The Role of Foreign Intelligence Agencies in Cold War Coups d'État: A Comparative Case Study of Iran and Afghanistan