Espionage and its history

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The history of espionage or spying can be dated back to the time of Sun-Tzu. Spies have been used by the ancient Chinese, the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Greeks and Romans, the Aztecs, the Soviet Union, the Americans and now nearly every country today. Spying plays a huge role in War, for it is the act of an individual obtaining information in secret. Thus making it a huge tactical advantage.
Spying can be broken down into five different types of targets of espionage. The first target being natural resources (materials, energy, food), for this agents are found amongst bureaucrats. The second is popular sentiment. This spying targets foreign and domestic policies and is aimed towards the popular, middle class, and the elite. The third target consists of strategic economic strengths (manufacture, infrastructure, research and production). Fourth is military capability intelligence which is composed of offense, defense, maneuver, air, space, and naval. The Fifth is counterintelligence which defined by Merriam – Webster dictionary is an “organized activity of an intelligence service designed to block an enemy's sources of information, to deceive the enemy, to prevent sabotage, and to gather political and military information”.
As for spies themselves, there are a few different types. There is the double agent which is a spy who pretends to spy for one government while actually spying for another. A re-doubled agent is an agent who purposely gets caught as being a double agent and is forced to mislead the foreign intelligence service. There’s the triple agent which is an agent that is working simultaneously for three intelligence services. An agent provocateur is a type of agent that instigates trouble or provides information to gro...

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...ss spy planes, and cameras and mics that could be disguised as the smallest of objects, such a simple screw.
Espionage has not only made its stance in military and in technology, but also in media. Spy films continue to grow in numbers daily. With some having a whole franchise off a movie series. That being the film series of James Bond which has released 23 films since 1962. Other popular film franchises include Mission Impossible and the Bourne movies.
Espionage or spying has been one of the biggest factors in history. It has influenced us through television and film. It has made its presence in technology and it has become a crucial part in war. Espionage, although ironically being known for its secrets and confidentiality, it has become well known amongst the public. It has lasted through generations and continues to grow and influence each and every one of us.

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