1  2  3  Next

Fairly often, I come across claims as to what intelligence agencies are world-class or the best in the world or whatever. What are the best foreign intelligence agencies in the world? When comparing intelligence agencies, what does "best" even mean and how is it measured?

I'm asking because I genuinely haven't a clue, and would love to hear the opinions of people who know more. I can name the CIA, MI6, CSIS, and Mossad off the top of my head, but that's about the limit to my knowledge.

   

Why ask us? Google it.....

10 Best Intelligence Agencies in the World

   

Maybe the best are the ones we don't even know exist.

   

That list is insulting. CSIS doesn't make it into the top 10, but agencies from India and Pakistan do? What a load of crap. Canada got snubbed for no good reason. CSIS is one of the top intelligence agencies in the world.

-J.

   

Does this make you feel any better?

The World’s Best Intelligence Agencies

   

Now that list is no truth for sure. I have the most respect for Canadian Intelligence outside the US with MI6 and FSB. Matter in fact the 3 I just stated are the best.

   

The FSB like their predecessors the KGB have a Larry the Cable Guy work ethos.....git'er done!!

   

I suspect that the 10 best intelligence agencies in the world are one that none of us have ever heard of.

   

That's pretty much what I was gonna say. The best ones would be the ones we never even heard of.

   

I did say it, only I didn't notice that ray had said it already.

   

And I hadn't noticed you said the exactly what I was thinking.

The dispensery sure had some good shit this week

   

3) CONTROL

2) U.N.C.L.E.

1) Cubicle Gestapo

   

I.M.F.

   

The argument that we wouldn't have heard of the best intelligence agencies has a lot of merit.

Hyack: Because I don't trust the authority of an undated article from some website I've never heard of which doesn't cite sources. I made a list of 5 different top 10 lists of that kind and averaged them to get a basic idea, but I wanted to check it against some alternative source. Like, say, the opinions of people who read lots of non-fiction about intelligence and agencies.

Some things that concerned me about the Google results were: 1) The CIA is mentioned, but not the NSA or DIA. 2) Some of them ranked Russia's FSB as one of the top 10 while others said it was GRU. Similarly, some of them ranked the UK's MI6 and others their SIS. In both cases, this makes me suspect the list-makers don't actually know the difference. 3) I'm surprised at how low Mossad is ranked. I expected them to be in the top 4 (perhaps #1), but several lists put them at 7th or even 10th. 4) No methodology is mentioned in any of them. Are they being ranked by gut feeling, or by some kind of objective criteria? What kind of objective criteria?

At least the list from Men.com had a "Claim to Fame" note for each one. It also has the benefit of being from a website I've actually heard of before, though not one that particularly deserves respect as a factual authority.

In case anyone was wondering, the average of those 5 random sources produced this ranking:
1) United States (CIA)
2) Pakistan (ISI)
3) United Kingdom (SIS and/or MI6)
4) Russia (FSB and/or GRU)
5) Germany (BND)
6) France (DGSE)
7) Israel (Mossad)
8) China (MSS)
9) India (RAW or R&AW)
10) Australia (ASIS)
11) Canada (CSIS)

Also, I think it would be cool if Canada added an 'R' and an 'I' to their agency's name, so it became CRISIS. Perhaps "the Canadian Royal Interrogation and Security Intelligence Service." That'd be friggin' sweet.

   

The best intelligence agencies?

How abut the one that monitors this forum and its posts.

Say, "Hey!".

   

1  2  3  Next