Beyond States and Spies: The Security Intelligence Services of the Private Sector

By Lewis Sage-Passant

Scholars have long viewed intelligence as the preserve of nation states. Where the term 'private sector intelligence' is used, the focus has been overwhelmingly on government contractors. As such, a crucial aspect of intelligence power has been overlooked: the use of intelligence by corporations to navigate and influence the world. Where there has been academic scrutiny of the field, it is seen as a post-9/11 phenomenon, and that a state monopoly of intelligence has been eroded. Beyond States and Spies demonstrates - through original research - that such a monopoly never existed. Private sector intelligence is at least as old as the organised intelligence activities of the nation state. The book offers a comparative examination of private and public intelligence, and makes a compelling case for understanding the dangers posed by unregulated intelligence in private hands. Overall, this casts new light on a hitherto under investigated academic space.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1399543660
• ISBN13: 9781399543668
• Release Date: April 2026
• Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
• Length: 360 Pages