Blog Post #9 : EOTO Presentation #2: Five Eyes

 

The Five Eyes Alliance: History and Relevance

There has never been any intelligence organization as pervasive in intelligence collection and global security as the Five Eyes. The world of Five Eyes espionage was born with war and continued to be at the center of espionage, counter-espionage, and defense strategy. Members of this group along with the United States included United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. The Five Eyes alliance started with code-breaking during World War II and persisted with the modern-day's actions on cybersecurity. It remains a part of global politics and security in modern-day world politics. (Wikipedia)

The Establishment and History of the Five Eyes

Five Eyes is a World War II alliance in the mid-1940s when the war had not yet ended and coordination through the sharing of intelligence was the means used to fight the nations. The United States and the United Kingdom had initially allied in the 1943 BRUSA Agreement when they shared critical wartime intelligence. This led to the wider UKUSA Agreement of 1946, the overarching agreement upon which the post-war and Cold War alliance was founded. This was later expanded to Canada in 1946 and Australia and New Zealand in 1956 to form today's Five Eyes. (Privacy International)

This group was busiest during the Cold War when the member nations' intelligence services worked together to spy on Soviet communication and fend off the threat of espionage. ECHELON's network of spies intercepting foreigners' communications to spy on potential rivals was its peak performance then. It had made the Five Eyes the world's largest and technologically most sophisticated spy network ever. (Wikipedia)

The Role of Five Eyes Today

In the post-Cold War period, Five Eyes has been successful at counter-foreign espionage, terrorism, and cyber threats. In the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks, Five Eyes nations started to collaborate on global terrorism. Five Eyes nations were at the forefront of discovering terror cells, interdicting plots, and border security. Five Eyes later expanded into cyberwar, propaganda campaigns, and emerging artificial intelligence threats. (Privacy International)

In 2013, Edward Snowden leaked top-secret details of the nature of Five Eyes intelligence agencies' mass surveillance, and international controversy around the right to privacy and government encroachment thereof. Five Eyes collaboration has also been criticized by the opposition not so much for infringing on civil liberties but from a support standpoint, collaboration is more pertinent today than ever previously to national security. In spite of such concerns, Five Eyes remains at the forefront of global intelligence sharing. (Wikipedia)

Conclusion

Five Eyes accord is the most powerful block of intelligence-sharing in the current world. From its origin as a wartime component of World War II until its use in anti-terrorism and computer security currently, The Five Eyes Accord has the utmost importance to global security. Strip aside the surveillance fig leaf and privacy screens, and Five Eyes is a staple of democratic bloc provision of stability and security. The alliance expands, stretching to accommodate the needs of the new world order and putting brains at the forefront of global defense strategy. (Privacy International)