These 11 best intelligence agencies in the world in 2017 will be responsible for many of the world’s spying actions and covert operations.
The truth about the second oldest profession is a far cry from most of the spy movies we’ve seen, James Bond included. Keeping tabs on friends and enemies has been an essential part of surviving for countries throughout our history and it seldom included martinis. For the most part, it is hard, gruesome work, whose details public rarely discover. The technology these agencies use changes constantly, as they are trying to get an upper hand over their rivals in their never-ending shadow wars, about which we only hear after they are long over or something goes horribly wrong. Fame isn’t something that any spy craves, in fact, the less the public is aware of them and their actions, the happier they are.
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The 11 best intelligence agencies in the world in 2017 on our list heavily depend on funding, so it’s not a surprise that all of them are also listed among the Top Intelligence Agencies with the Biggest Budgets in the World. Their manpower and equipment both often require absurd amounts of money in order to function properly. Their methods are often criticized, and rightly so, especially when they use torture or unlawful surveillance tactics on their own citizens. Despite all that, the sad truth remains that we need spies, in order to protect ourselves in the world we are living in.
Similar to the Most Elite Hardest Training Special Forces in the World, ranking best intelligence agencies in the world is a tricky business. It’s hard to evaluate someone’s work when most of it is classified, so we decided to listen to Vox Populi on this one. We gathered several lists that ranked them and from all of them, we created our own unique listing. The lists in questions are Foreign Policy, ABC New Point, Expert Security Tips, The Mesh News, and Story Pick.
Here are our picks for the world’s best spies:
