N, you start the book by talking about how espionage, spying is one of the three oldest professions. Just remind us what the other two are. It's often referred to as one ofthe three oldes professions in the world,. The other two being pestitution and mercenarism. And they are commonalities, it is often set, o know, between the three. N, we think of mercenary we think of the dogs of war, hard bitten military types. But in some ways, actually is a journalist who chooses to write articles for pay to push a certain kind of line. I call it giggo politics.
Are we heading into an era of unending low-level conflict, of foreign interference and buying of influence? In The Weaponisation of Everything, the security expert Mark Galeotti argues that traditional warfare is on the wane, replaced by hybrid wars, disinformation, espionage and subversion. He tells Adam Rutherford that this 21st century way of war often goes unnoticed and can be dangerously destabilising, but it also offers opportunities for those who are able to take full advantage of this new armoury.
The political philosopher Cécile Fabre explores the ethics of espionage and counterintelligence. In Spying Through a Glass Darkly she looks to answer a fundamental question: when is spying justified? In the context of war and foreign policy what actions are morally justified, and when? Fabre brings together philosophical arguments and historical examples to study the moral justification of state blackmail, mass surveillance, treason and bribery.
How far are the subversive techniques discussed uniquely human? It’s a question the primatologist Kirsty Graham considers as she studies the way bonobos and chimpanzees communicate in the field. Her research has shown that both groups share not only the physical form of the gestures but many of the same meanings.
Producer: Katy Hickman