What constitutes successful covert action? Evaluating unacknowledged interventionism in foreign affairs

Cormac, R., Walton, C. and Van Puyvelde, D. (2022) What constitutes successful covert action? Evaluating unacknowledged interventionism in foreign affairs. Review of International Studies, 48(1), pp. 111-128. (doi: 10.1017/S0260210521000231)

Abstract

Covert action has long been a controversial tool of international relations. However, there is remarkably little public understanding about whether it works and, more fundamentally, about what constitutes success in this shadowy arena of state activity. This article distills competing criteria of success and examines how covert actions become perceived as successes. We develop a conceptual model of covert action success as a social construct and illustrate it through the case of ‘the golden age of CIA operations’. The socially constructed nature of success has important implications not just for evaluating covert actions but also for using, and defending against, them.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Van Puyvelde, Dr Damien
• Authors: Cormac, R., Walton, C., and Van Puyvelde, D.
• College/School: College of Arts & Humanities > School of Humanities > History
• Journal Name: Review of International Studies
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• ISSN: 0260-2105
• ISSN (Online): 1469-9044
• Published Online: 24 May 2021
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2021 The Authors
• First Published: First published in Review of International Studies 48(1):111–128
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced under a Creative Commons License