UK and US spy chiefs warn of threat to world order

LONDON: CIA Director Bill Burns and UK MI6 chief Richard Moore warned on Saturday that the world order was “under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the cold war”.

Writing in a Financial Times op-ed, the two spy chiefs said “we have no more trusted or esteemed allies” than each other, adding that the partnership would be vital as they “face an unprecedented array of threats”, chiefly from Russia, China and in the Middle East.

The United States and UK are among the leading financial and military supporters of Ukraine in its resistance to the Russian invasion laun­ched in February 2022.

The op-ed by the CIA director and chief of the Secret Intelligence Service was the first-ever jointly authored by heads of their agencies. “The partnership lies at the beating heart of the special relationship between our countries,” they wrote, noting that their services marked 75 years of partnership two years ago.

Call for ‘staying the course’ on Ukraine

‘Staying the course’

The agencies “stand together in resisting an assertive Russia and (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” they said.

“Staying the course (in Ukraine) is more vital than ever. Putin will not succeed in extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence,” they said, adding their agencies would continue aiding Ukrainian intelligence.

Russian forces have been slowly advancing in eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian troops have been occupying a large swath of Russia’s Kursk region and Kyiv has been pleading for more US and Western air defenses.

Richard Moore said that it was “too early” to say how long Ukrainian forces would be able to hang on in Kursk, the part of Russia where they now occupy some land. William Burns called Ukraine’s Kursk offensive in Russia “a significant tactical achievement”.

The spy chiefs said their agencies would keep working to thwart a “reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe by Russian intelligence” and its “cynical use of technology” to spread disinformation “to drive wedges between us.”

Russia has denied pursuing sabotage and disinformation campaigns against the US and other Western countries.

Burns and Moore noted that they had reorganised their agencies to adapt to the rise of China, which they called “the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st Century”.

The agencies, they said, also “have exploited our intelligence channels to push hard restraint and de-escalation” in the Middle East, and are working for a truce in Gaza that could end the “appalling loss of life of Palestinian civilians”.

Burns is the chief US negotiator in talks to reach a deal.

The pair also explained how they were now using advanced AI and cloud technologies to harness the vast troves of data they collect.

The joint article comes just days before UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s visit to Washington on September 13, where he will be received by US President Joe Biden.

They will discuss, among other things, “continuing robust for Ukraine” and the desire to achieve a truce in Gaza, the White House said on Friday.

This meeting takes place at a time when the two nations’ stance on Israel is diverging. London has announced the suspension of 30 arms export licences to Israel, citing a risk that they could be used in violation of international law in war-destroyed Gaza.

Published in Dawn, September 8th, 2024