clandestine operations
Secret government activities
Clandestine operations are secret activities conducted by intelligence agencies, military units, or other organizations, typically designed to conceal both the action and its sponsor.
The term usually implies government-sanctioned covert work—espionage, sabotage, or political manipulation in foreign countries: The CIA ran clandestine operations throughout the Cold War.
Distinguished from covert operations, where the activity may be visible but sponsorship is hidden.
- spycraftMethods of secret agents
- counterspyOne who thwarts espionage
- black opsUnacknowledged covert activities
- infiltrationCovert entry into organization
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
deep cover · counterintelligence · dead drop · back channel · sabotage · double agent · mole · false flag · plausible deniability · rendition · extraction team · wet work · regime change · sleeper cell · tradecraft · cutout · handler · safehouse
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- oppressionoppression, tyranny, racism, repression, secret police
- January Uprisinginsurgents, insurgent forces, insurgent leaders, national government, guerrilla warfare
- intelligencesmart, IQ, memory, bright, clever
- Intelligence AgenciesCIA, FBI, NSA, MI5, MI6
- secret networkssecret societies, cabals, cells, hidden networks, criminal networks
clandestine operationsopen government
Right to state information
democratic oversight · public accountability · freedom of information · sunshine laws · congressional oversight