ABSTRACT
Covert action has served as a foreign policy tool of the United States since the country's creation. Its use until the mid-twentieth century was largely ad hoc, and only with the Cold War did its programmatic implementation by the Central Intelligence Agency emerge. In seeking to influence foreign events, U.S. covert action has commonly employed propaganda, political and economic action, and paramilitary operations. Its Cold War use in Europe and much of the Third World achieved widely varying results and led to increasingly focused oversight both by presidential administrations and Congress. Ensuring that covert operations reflect U.S. policy priorities, laws, and values presents an ongoing challenge for decision makers.
