American Who Spied against Their Country Since World War 2
Abstract
PERSEREC was asked to develop a database on all Americans involved with espionage against the United States since World War II. The goal of the project was to analyze the cases in terms of themes and trends that would further our understanding of the phenomenon of espionage. A search of open- source material found 117 individuals who were either convicted or prosecuted for espionage (or for attempting or intending to commit espionage) or for who clear evidence of espionage existed even though they were not prosecuted. This latter category included defectors, and spies who died or committed suicide, or who were given immunity from prosecution. This unclassified study deals only with caught spies whose names surfaced in open-source materials. From the sources used, it is impossible to know how many more spies were caught committing espionage but were not prosecuted for various reasons, or how many have spied in the past and were not caught, or are spying at present and remain uncaught. Three types of information were gathered: personal and job characteristics, and characteristics of the espionage itself. Analyses were conducted for the total sample of spies. In addition, four major comparisons were made: (a) spies intercepted the first time they attempted espionage vs. those who actually transmitted information; (b) military vs. civilian spies; (c) trends over the decades; and (d) spies who volunteered vs. those who were recruited by foreign intelligence or by family and friends. Apparent motivation was also examined.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- May 01, 1992
- Accession Number
- ADA276043
Entities
People
- Martin F. Wiskoff
- Suzanne Wood