None can beat the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) of the US, simply because of such a really big budget. The global reach that CIA has cannot be compared to anyone else’s. Sometimes, it is CIA that discovers everything about terrorists hiding out in Canada even before Canadian Intelligence gets to know about them.
That said, you cannot underestimate India’s RAW. Obviously, RAW has a far less budget than the CIA, but I can tell you that India’s global interests are increasing, as it aspires to be a global superpower. So naturally, funding of RAW will continually increase.
RAW operates in a secrecy rivalled by almost none. Not even CIA. Sometimes, CIA’s operations are brought out in public (simply because they do not have any direct threats from anyone. India has threat from Pakistan and China, and they also have a policy of declassifying their files after 25–30 years).Escorts in Mumbai, Escorts in goa, Mumbai Escorts, Goa Escorts | Mumbai Escorts Services, Goa Escorts Services, Mumbai Escorts Provider, Goa Escorts Provider, Mumbai Escorts Agency
RAW’s headquarters are also not known, it is only a hunch that it is somewhere in New Delhi. Anyone who says they’ve seen RAW headquarters is plainly bluffing. There are no estimates as to how many agents operate. Some estimates state 8–10 thousand, but there could be more. (Not less, obviously, considering India’s large interests in Asia and growing interests across the world).
Speaking of Pakistan’s ISI. It is also a feared agency, but the way some websites put ISI as the best is purely hilarious.
Some people say that ISI is better than RAW. I do not agree. It could be at par with RAW, but definitely not better. It is all jingoism by Pakistanis which makes them say this.
RAW has, many a time, proven the links of terrorists attacking India, to ISI. RAW has more space assets for surveillance. And obviously more budget. RAW played a big role in the creation of Bangladesh and assimilation of Sikkim to India.
RAW had information about the 26/11 plan months in advance. But the then office of NSA simply dismissed those threats and the police didn’t cooperate with our intelligence very well.
And who can forget about RAW deceiving the CIA about India’s nuclear programme? Everything was planned by it, to such detail that CIA satellites couldn’t get any valuable details.
Contrary to that, RAW got to know major details of Pakistan’s nuclear programme, including the test site.
There are simply several operations by RAW about which no one knows. Moreover, it is answerable directly to the Prime Minister and not Parliament.
And Indians do not seem to talk or discuss much about RAW (compare that to how much they talk, discuss about and glorify our Armed Forces, which is also good). Nor are there many movies/television shows related to them.
That’s why RAW is underestimated. Many a time.
There isn’t a rubric for measuring these sort of things. Patriotic nonsense tends to cloud the judgment of people when attempting to measure these sorts of things. I will give you the three top contenders and I will defend them as best as possible:
- US — Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)
- UK — Secret Intelligence Service (MI6)
- Israel — Institute for Intelligence and Special Operations (Mossad)
There are others out there that are worthy of this discussion. They are typically from large, industrialized nations or those who have a history of engaging heavily in intelligence, sub-rosa actions:
- Pakistan — Inter-Service Intelligence (ISI)
- Russia — Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR)
- France — General Directorate for External Security (DGSE)
- China — Ministry of State Security (MSS — which covers both internal and external security)
There are also nations that have highly-professional spy agencies, but just don’t have the depth of experience, national interest and/or funding to carry out large global operations:Escorts in Mumbai, Escorts in goa, Mumbai Escorts, Goa Escorts | Mumbai Escorts Services, Goa Escorts Services, Mumbai Escorts Provider, Goa Escorts Provider, Mumbai Escorts Agency
- Canada — Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS): Limited by funding and internal demand (can lean on the UK/USA Pact for global intelligence).
- Australia — Australian Secret Intelligence Service (ASIS): Limited by very little except funding. Strong national government interest has kept the reach geographically “local”. (leans on UK/USA Pact for global intelligence).
- New Zealand — New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS or NZSIS): limited by funding and internal demand (can lean on UK/USA Pact for global intelligence and heavily lean on Australia for localized intel)
- Saudi Arabia — General Intelligence Presidency (GIP): Limited by experience and by geographical concerns; leans a great deal on partnerships with the CIA and Britain.
- Japan — Public Security Intelligence Agency (PSIA): Limited by public demand, funding and legal framework.
- Germany — Federal Intelligence Service (BND): Limited by public demand, funding and legal framework.
- India — Research & Analysis Wing (RAW): Limited by funding and experience.
- Brazil — Brazilian Intelligence Agency (ABIN): Limited by funding and experience.
So, why do I include only the USA and Israel and not Russia? Because the SVR is not the KGB and if we are talking “the greatest of all time” then the KGB would be contender. The SVR is horribly funded compared to other nations and tends to be a thug-run intelligence arm dedicated to preserving Russia’s de facto Mafia state. Look at the Russian “who’s who” amongst large corporations, billionaires and state officials: most (if not all) are tied to the former KGB and current SVR.
Pakistan’s ISI, in my opinion, is really the best of the non-listers. The ISI is ruthless and meticulous. I jokingly call it the “Obsidian Order” (from Star Trek) because of it’s general technical and thorough aptitude that allows it to punch way above its weight.
I leave France’s and China’s off the list because there just isn’t enough information on either and because — in France’s case — the funding has been cut in the past decade. China also fails to make the list because, while her external gathering of intel is significant, the Chinese state is more obsessed with holding on to power and as such, the MSS’s bulk of spying is directed at her own people.
So why Israel, UK and USA? Because these three nations have a long, well known history. They are well funded and despite what you might want to believe, have reputations for thoroughness.
The Mossad’s limited record is nothing short of stellar. That said, “best” is hard when your operatives focus on a narrow part of the world. Israel just doesn’t have the money or footprint to spy on the whole world, so it directs its espionage at its local neighborhood with a few whiskers in some of the big players around the world (India, China, USA, Britain, France, Russia). Otherwise it has a very limited, but capable reach.
The CIA clearly is massive. Estimates put its funding at something like $25-30 billion per year. It’s the world’s largest external spy agency in terms of people, dollars and footprint. The CIA has likely well over 40 thousand people. It’s hard to compete with a spy agency that has a budget larger than all but the top 12 nations spend on their military budget!
The British wrote the book on intelligence. The Brits (through the MI5/MI6) bottled up the Kaiser’s spies and Hitler’s spies during two world wars handily. The Brits were the senior partner in intelligence gathering until the end of the Second World War and were never a junior partner until the 70’s when dealing with the USA. The Brits, through their relationship through the UK/USA Intelligence Alliance, embed their analysts in their allies’ spy agencies even until this day. There are “British Intel” desks at CIA, NSA and elsewhere in the US government (the reverse is also true between all of us in the Alliance — we embed our observers in each other’s agencies as part of the agreement).
In this, it’s truly hard to declare “who’s better” because the USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the UK really do have a “common training and operating” book. We share intel and co-operate on operations together. In this, I’d put the “Five Eyes” in the same group and almost call them a unified operation being conducted by five sovereign nations.
Best?
Historically: The British MI6 — they invented the modern industrial intelligence standards and dominated the world thereof until the 1950’s.
Currently: Clearly the CIA has all the money, footprint, equipment and power. It’s hard to complete with an agency that has more money to spend and people to deploy than any other. The CIA’s budget is larger than most entire nations’ governments; larger than most nations’ military budget (except but a few). The CIA can also lean on assets and powers of other intelligence services in the USA that extend its reach and power even further. The total US intel spending hovers around $70 billion per year. That’s hard to compete with.
food 