Day: May 13, 2026

Jeffrey P. Rogg, an intelligence historian, argues that understanding the clandestine world of espionage is essential to fully grasping the birth and survival of the United States. He highlights how intelligence operations, ranging from the strategic deceptions of George Washington to the work of diplomat-spies in France, served as critical catalysts and defenses during the Revolutionary War. Ultimately, Rogg explores a lasting American contradiction: a cultural discomfort with the "meanness" of spying despite a heavy reliance on it to ensure national security.