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Bill Burns is the Director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency, and Richard Moore is the Director of the British Secret Intelligence Service.
Two years ago, we celebrated 75 years of partnership. 75 years have passed since the establishment of the CIA in 1947. But the ties between American and British intelligence go back even further, to the founding of SIS in 1909, when they first witnessed together the horrors of interstate violence in Europe.
Today, that partnership remains at the heart of the special relationship between our two countries, following close cooperation through World War I, World War II, and the Cold War, followed by a joint fight against international terrorism. We no longer have reliable and respected allies.
But the challenges of the past are now accelerating and are being exacerbated by changes in technology. Today, we work together in a conflicting international system in which both countries face an unprecedented array of threats.
The CIA and SIS are uniting to resist authoritarian Russia and Putin’s war of aggression against Ukraine. We were able to foresee it coming and warn the international community so that we could all rally to protect Ukraine. We have carefully declassified some of the secrets as a new and effective part of this effort.
It’s more important than ever to stay the course. President Putin will not succeed in extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence. Russia’s actions are a clear violation of the United Nations Charter and global norms. We continue to support our brave and resolute Ukrainian intelligence partners. We are proud of that and are in awe of Ukraine’s resilience, innovation and pride.
This conflict proved that technology, along with extraordinary courage and traditional weaponry, can change the course of war. Ukraine combines open source software with cutting-edge battlefield technology, utilizing commercial and military satellite imagery, drone technology, high- and low-altitude cyber warfare, social media, open source intelligence, unmanned aerial vehicles and military weapons. It was the first war of its kind. Maritime vehicles and intelligence operations, as well as human and signals intelligence, are being realized at an incredible pace and scale. Above all, it was emphasized that it is essential to adapt, experiment and innovate.
Beyond Ukraine, we will continue to work together to combat the reckless sabotage that Russian intelligence services are deploying across Europe and the technology they use to spread lies and disinformation aimed at driving a wedge between us. We continue to work together to prevent the cynical exploitation of
In the 21st century, crises do not come in succession. While significant attention and resources are being devoted to Russia, we are acting together in other places and spaces to counter the risks of global instability.
For both the CIA and SIS, the rise of China is a major intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century, and we have reorganized our services to reflect that priority. Meanwhile, counterterrorism remains at the core of our partnership, and we work closely with other countries to protect our homeland and thwart the renewed threat of ISIS.
In the Middle East, the SIS and CIA have used our country’s intelligence channels to push for restraint and de-escalation. Our services are working tirelessly to achieve a ceasefire and hostage agreement in the Gaza Strip. This would end the suffering and horrific loss of life of Palestinian civilians and allow the hostages to return home after 11 months of hellish captivity by Hamas. Bill has played a hands-on role in bringing the negotiating parties together, with the help of his friends in Egypt and Qatar. We will continue to work together to reduce tensions in the region.
Maintaining the edge in technology is essential to ensuring the edge in our shared intelligence. SIS and CIA cannot do this alone. Our partnerships are strengthened by a network of partnerships with the private sector.
We now use AI, including generative AI, to enable and improve intelligence operations, from summarizing to ideation to identifying important information in large amounts of data. We train AI to protect and “red team” our operations to maintain confidentiality when needed. We use cloud technology to help our talented data scientists get the most out of our data, and we partner with some of the most innovative companies in the US, UK, and around the world.
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In all of this work, at the heart of our mission are talented people who best exemplify selfless public service and patriotism. Our partnership is built on collaboration across technology, analytics and covert operations overseas, including agent relationships. These are the brave men and women who work with law enforcement to thwart bombs, end violence, and inform us of the enemy’s intentions.
The international world order, a balanced system that has brought relative peace and stability and increased living standards, opportunity, and prosperity, is under threat in ways not seen since the Cold War. There is no doubt about that. But successfully combating this risk is the very basis of our special relationship. Trust, tolerance, constructive challenge, friendship. These characteristics, as well as our common determination to remain champions of peace and security in the world, are reliable into the next century.
