March 27, 2024 | Oved Lobel
This is also a demonstration of the very different roles intelligence agencies play in Western countries as opposed to despotisms. In the former, the agencies exist in part to protect citizens from threats, while in the latter, they exist to protect the regime and to monitor, oppress, intimidate, kidnap or kill their own citizens domestically and abroad. Because of this remit and resource allocation, countries like Iran or Russia are not particularly capable of, or even very interested in, thwarting such attacks.