foreign intelligence
External state secrets
Foreign intelligence is information about other countries—their governments, militaries, economies, or activities—gathered to inform a nation's security and policy decisions.
The term typically refers to intelligence collected by agencies like the CIA or MI6: The operation was classified as foreign intelligence gathering.
Distinguished from domestic intelligence, which concerns threats within a country's own borders.
- national securitySafeguarding a country's interests
- state secretsProtected government information
- espionageCovert intelligence gathering
- double agentSpy betraying their side
- deep coverProlonged covert infiltration
counterterrorism · surveillance · listening post · cryptography · military installations · privacy rights · political leaders · oversight committees · international law · whistleblower protections · covert operations · back channel · military strategy · dead drop · reconnaissance · need to know · classified documents · diplomatic negotiations
- espionagespy, spies, double agent, double agents, spying
- national securityCIA, FBI, NSA, Pentagon, DHS
- NSANSA, SIGINT, cryptanalysis, codebreaking, electronic surveillance
- Spy AgenciesCIA, MI6, MI5, KGB, Mossad
- surveillance lawwiretap, FISA, phone tap, electronic surveillance, eavesdropping
- intelligencesmart, IQ, memory, bright, clever
foreign intelligencedomestic intelligence
Spying within national borders
domestic surveillance · internal security · domestic spying · internal affairs · public information
foreign intelligencecounterintelligence
Defense against enemy espionage
counterespionage · information security · operational security · leak prevention
foreign intelligencediplomatic exchange
Formal communication between governments
foreign, foreigner, foreigners, foreignness, intelligence, intelligent, intelligently, unintelligent, intelligentsia