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Secrecy and the politics of selective disclosures: the US government’s intervention in Guatemala
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Kevin T Fahey ,
Douglas B Atkinson
Intelligence and National Security, Volume: 39, Issue: 4, Pages: 579 - 598
Swansea University Author:
Luca Trenta
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DOI (Published version): 10.1080/02684527.2023.2279317
Abstract
Recent scholarship debates the signaling function of secrecy and covertness. At the international level, covertness is used to achieve strategic objectives without risking escalation or openly violating international law. Domestically, secrecy is understood as method to pacify domestic constituencie...
| Published in: | Intelligence and National Security |
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| ISSN: | 0268-4527 1743-9019 |
| Published: |
Informa UK Limited
2023
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| Online Access: |
Check full text
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| URI: | https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa64841 |
| Abstract: |
Recent scholarship debates the signaling function of secrecy and covertness. At the international level, covertness is used to achieve strategic objectives without risking escalation or openly violating international law. Domestically, secrecy is understood as method to pacify domestic constituencies. These are typically understood as obstacles to the conduct of (covert) foreign policy. Building primarily on archival material, the analysis highlights the role of ‘selective disclosures’ of information regarding covert operations. The paper analyses the Eisenhower Administration’s 1954 intervention in Guatemala (PBSUCCESS). We find that the executive used disclosures – and not secrecy - to pacify hawkish domestic constituencies. |
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| College: |
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Funders: |
Swansea University |
| Issue: |
4 |
| Start Page: |
579 |
| End Page: |
598 |