essay topics on the CIA?

Question

help please

Answer 1

A few ideas:

The CIA's role in toppling foreign governments during the Cold War. A superb example of this is the Agency's involvement in the overthrow of Salvador Allende's democratically-elected socialist government in Chile. You could examine the results of such actions, the ethics of such interference, or take several other approaches.

The CIA's role in brinksmanship during the Kennedy years. One option would be to focus on the Bay of Pigs, when the Agency tried to drag the United States into an invasion of Cuba. Alternatively, one could examine the case of Oleg Penkovsky, a Soviet colonel "turned" by the CIA into a spy. Penkovsky gave the CIA information about the state of the Soviet strategic nuclear arsenal (weaker than many in America had suspected), which could have given President Kennedy some extra confidence during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

You could also examine, in a larger context, how the CIA (and others) were so completely hoodwinked by the Soviet Union's apparent power, and thus were utterly stunned by the collapse of the Warsaw Pact and the Soviet Union in '89-'91.

For a topic more connected to current events, consider the CIA's support of anti-Soviet forces in Afghanistan after the Soviet invasion of '79. This led to the mujahedeen, one cell of which was headed by a Saudi businessman named Osama bin Laden. Perhaps you've heard of him?

You could also examine the CIA's role in the gathering of presentation of intelligence regarding the weapons of mass destruction (WMD, or nuclear, biological, and chemical) program of Saddam Hussein's Iraq (later found to be a paper tiger), and the role that played in leading the United States into war in 2003.

Alternatively, write a speculative piece about the changing nature of global politics. Look at how the demise of the Soviet Union changed the global order, and how the CIA had to adapt to this massive change. This essay would examine the new realms of anti-terrorism operations, smuggling, industrial espionage, and other new roles, as well as new methods of intelligence-gathering.

If your thoughts lean to the philosophical, you could write an essay about the nature of the CIA as a secret intelligence-gathering agency, and the way that a need for secrecy and national security balances with the need for democratic societies to be open and frank, so that people can choose a leader whose policies they support.

You could also compare the CIA to foreign intelligence services in dictatorships (like the Soviet KGB or East German Stasi) or other democracies (like the British MI6 or the French Direction Generale de la Securite Exterieure [DGSE]), and how their actions, roles, and policies compare and contrast.

Or, write a historical essay. Examine how the CIA was created during World War II as the Office of Special Services (OSS) for special operations, espionage, and counter-espionage work in Europe, and study how the CIA grew out of that agency, and how its role changed as the Soviet Union emerged as America's number one enemy.

Good luck with the paper!

Answer 2

CIA is the pawn used by the US to fight for its interests in other countries.