Deception Operations : Studies in the East-West Context by David A Charles & Maurice A J Tugwell - 1990

Brasseys, 1990. Hardcover. Very Good/Very Good. H/B 432 pages, condition is Very good. July 1983. A letter published in the Indian daily newspaper Patriot signaled the start of a Soviet deception operation which aimed to lay the blame for the AIDS virus at the door of the experimental laboratory at Fort Detrick, Maryland, USA. It subtly implied that US development of new biological weapons caused the outbreak. As a result of this deception the story was reported by newspapers in Africa, South America and Europe; the Sunday Express ran it in London. Between January and June 1987 the Soviet media relayed the story at least 32 times. The claim was false. August 1987. The Wall Street Journal reported that the United States Government was considering military or covert action against Libya. It also claimed that internal opposition to Colonel Qaddafi was growing. Again reports were false, designed to create alarm in Libyan ruling circles and possibly precipitate the overthrow of Qaddafi himself. This volume concentrates on four main areas: the circumstances in which deception has been used in the world's political arena; its results; the proclivity of the two superpowers to use deception in international relations under conditions short of war; and the relative vulnerability of their respective political systems to such deception. A series of case studies skilfully uncovers much of the calculated use of deception by both East and West.