Covert Action as Instrument of Statecraft: A Brief

The successes and failures of state craft to influence the behavioral pattern of other states or governments depends to a large extent on the use of ‘hard intelligence’ – information collected from reliable sources and confirmed by subsequent analysis. It also involves the careful integration of psychological and economic strategies and in some situations, closely controlled covert operations. All these measures constitute the major methods of covert action. Covert action can be defined as those secret activities carried by government of a state or organization [state and non -state actors] to influence and manipulate events and situations abroad. It covers an indirect, non – attribution and clandestine operations. The role of governments or non- state actors in covert action are neither apparent nor publicly acknowledged, as everything is shrouded in secrecy. More often than not, the masses are not aware of the dynamics of state craft and the means adopted to achieve these ends. This paper is an analysis of the major methods of covert action. Using the analytical method, and relying mainly on few scholarships available in this area of study, the paper argues that the covert action approach adopted by actors to advance their interest is sometimes considered as ‘the third option’. Based on its findings, this paper submits that the use of covert action at individual and state levels is as old as man because of its special appeal to some statemen as the quiet option with less cost, no debate nor publicity.