Western Intelligence Cooperation on Vietnam during the Early Cold War Era

MATEJOVA, Miriam and Don MUNTON. Western Intelligence Cooperation on Vietnam during the Early Cold War Era. Journal of Intelligence History. Taylor & Francis, 2016, vol. 15, No 2, p. 139-155, 16 pp. ISSN 1616-1262. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16161262.2016.1145853.

Basic information

• Original name: Western Intelligence Cooperation on Vietnam during the Early Cold War Era
• Authors: MATEJOVA, Miriam and Don MUNTON.
• Edition: Journal of Intelligence History, Taylor & Francis, 2016, 1616-1262.

Other information

• Original language: English
• Type of outcome: Article in a journal
• Confidentiality degree: is not subject to a state or trade secret
• Doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/16161262.2016.1145853
• Keywords in English: French Indochina, Geneva Accords, human intelligence, International Commission on Supervision and Control, International Intelligence Liaison, Vietnam
• Tags: International impact, Reviewed

Abstract

In the aftermath of the 1954 Geneva Conference, Canada, the UK, the US and other Western allies cooperated in gathering and sharing of human intelligence on and in North Vietnam. The British and Canadian foreign ministries played a key role in these efforts. Focusing mainly on the activities of these two countries, we explore the Vietnam intelligence program and discuss some of its implications on a broader Western, multilateral Humint cooperation. While the focus of this article is on efforts in Indochina in the mid-1950s, the pattern of intelligence cooperation described here continued into early and mid-1960s. Western intelligence liaison is not limited to the Vietnam case, as reflected in the intelligence activities of Western allies in Cuba (the 1960s–1970s), Tehran (1978–1980), Bosnia (the 1990s) and elsewhere.