The principles and methods of espionage as a system for collecting information are not only abhorrent but also go against ethical public concerns that need to be addressed. Despite the fact that studies in international relations have been guided by the idea that it is inappropriate to apply ethical principles in matters pertaining to international politics and statecraft ideals, espionage is thought of as an immoralist perspective of gathering intelligence information and should not be tolerated. Conedera (2016) claims that the United States of America has adopted the practice of secretly enlisting citizens in its "threat zones" in order to collect secret information. The current study analyzes espionage as one of the most critical ethical issue surrounding the United States of America’s intelligence system. An analysis of whether the intelligence gathered by espionage is then put to scale with consideration of the ethics potentially lost.
Ethical Issues Surrounding Espionage
Hatfield (2017) explains that when the intelligence personnel of the U.S. fetch for agents in other countries, they are driven with goals which may be offensive or defensive in nature. Further it is important to comprehend the fact that CIA adopts espionage as an “ingenious” way of sabotaging and destroying its nemeses. However, Lonsdale (2016) regrets that such techniques are not only founded on offensive philosophies but also against the ethics of humanity based on the fact that they are against the deep rooted American concepts of fair play. According to Hatfield (2017), the challenges of espionage emanate from the fact that it gives intelligent officers the senses of “resilient moral role distinction” which allow them to willingly undertake critical ethical tradeoffs. In some instances, these professionals have gone a notch higher to play their roles as if they are immune to the societal sieves of morality. According to Conedera (2016), the practice of espionage among the intelligence systems of the United States could be compared to physicians who betray or mislead their patients with the aim of benefiting other patients in future. It should be noted that any exemptions to prima facie ethical considerations need to be accomplished in such a way that they are in line with the most significant principles and not by their acceptance in their professionally expedient nature.
Is the Intelligence Gathered by Espionage Worth the Ethics Lost?
While the ethics surrounding espionage have been criticized in multiple ways, its gains are still considered to be of great benefit to the United States. Americans have continued to appreciate the roles played by CIA in gathering useful information through tactics like espionage which have aided in the fight against terrorism. For instance, espionage played a significant role in providing CIA with strategic information to fight against al-Qaida and Taliban militia whose attacks would have been more adverse (Hatfield, 2017). According to Lonsdale (2016), al-Qaida and Taliban claimed the deadly attacks of the World Trade Center located in New York City and Washington D.C’s Pentagon. Any country has its potential enemies and there is need for gathering of intelligence information by all means to take care of its citizenry. For instance, espionage has helped the U.S. in multiple occasions in the war against global terror groups like FLN in Algiers, the Liberation, Tigers of Tamil Eelam and ISIS.
Conclusion
There is no doubt that the use of espionage as an instrument of collecting intelligence information is both immoral and unethical. Espionage against one’s own country needs to be interpreted as treason and if unraveled, the perpetrators should be exposed to severe legal punishments. Despite the negative aspects of espionage, it should be accredited for availing useful information to bodies like CIA which has been used in eliminating terrorist militia considered to be enemies of the U.S.
References
Conedera, S. Z. (2016). Just War and the Ethics of Espionage. By Darrell Cole. International Philosophical Quarterly, 56(3), 378-381.
Hatfield, J. M. (2017). An ethical defense of treason by means of espionage. Intelligence and National Security, 32(2), 195-207.
Lonsdale, D. (2016). Beyond Just War: Military Strategy for the Common Good. Journal of Military Ethics, 15(2), 100-121.
