The Egyptian Intelligence Service: A History of the Mukhabarat, 1910-2009(Studies in Intelligence)

This book analyzes how the Egyptian intelligence community has adapted to shifting national security threats since its inception 100 years ago. Starting in 1910, when the modern Egyptian intelligence system was created to deal with militant nationalists and Islamists, the book shows how the security services were subsequently reorganized, augmented and centralized to meet an increasingly sophisticated array of challenges, including fascism, communism, army unrest, Israel, France, the United Kingdom, conservative Arab states, the Muslim Brotherhood and others. The book argues that studying Egypt's intelligence community is integral to our understanding of that country's modern history, regime stability and human rights record. Intelligence studies have been described as the 'missing dimension' of international relations. It is clear that intelligence agencies are pivotal to understanding the nature of many Arab regimes and their decision-making processes, and there is no published history of modern Egyptian intelligence in either a European language or in Arabic, though Egypt has the largest and arguably most effective intelligence community in the Arab world. This book will fill a clear gap in the intelligence literature and will be of much interest to students of intelligence studies, Middle Eastern politics, international security and IR in general.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Part 1: Intelligence and the Monarchy 1. Mamur Zapt 2. Decline & Fall of the Old Regime Part 2: Intelligence under Nasser 3. Creating a New Intelligence Community 4. General Intelligence 5. Egyptian Intelligence & the Suez Crisis 6. Unity, Subversion & Secession 7. Intelligence & the Yemen Wars 8. The Intelligence State 9. The 1967 War 10. Nasser's Twilight Part 3: Intelligence under Sadat 11: Power Struggles 12. Grand Deception in the 1973 War 13. Rejectionists Part 4: Intelligence under Mubarak 14. Troubles at Home & Abroad 15. State Security 16. General Intelligence Wars 17. September 2001 & Beyond. Conclusion

About the Author :
Owen L. Sirrs is a faculty associate in the Defense Critical Language and Culture Program at the University of Montana where he specializes in the Middle East and Afghanistan. He previously served as senior intelligence officer on Iran for the US Defense Intelligence Agency.