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by rippercushions 1298 days ago
A friend of mine is a diplomat, and apparently in diplomatic circles it's common knowledge who on the other side is a spy. In Soviet times, the lowest-ranked, blandly-named "member of delegation", typically an older gentleman with a military crewcut, was invariably KGB, while in many embassies including the US the "cultural attache", a position that has minimal qualifications and has almost no real responsibilities, is so commonly a spy that the whole title has become a bit of an in-joke.

All of this is kind of beside the point though, since embassy staff are known, heavily surveilled and guarded by diplomatic immunity. The "real" spies are the local people they recruit, and recruiting and keeping tabs on them without blowing their cover is the actual hard part.
4 comments
ahartmetz 1298 days ago
Yes, right. Dead drops, secret meetings and all that. (I ninja-added a second paragraph before I saw your comment.)

I remember a cultural attaché or two from John le Carré novels ;)

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euroderf 1297 days ago
Isn't the "cultural attaché" the guy who hangs out at receptions scouting for other-side folks who can't hold their liquor and/or want to reach out ?

Anyways always remember the difference between diplomatic immunity and consular immunity. The former covers the nuclear family, and includes criminal activity. The latter most decidedly does not.

There was a case where a Brazilian (IIRC) diplomat's kid killed a local in a traffic accident. Off scot-free.

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TMWNN 1298 days ago
>while in many embassies including the US the "cultural attache", a position that has minimal qualifications and has almost no real responsibilities, is so commonly a spy that the whole title has become a bit of an in-joke.

Isn't "passport control officer" the main go-to title for agents working under diplomatic cover?

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rvba 1298 days ago
In Russian/Soviet embassy everyone is a spy, starting from the cleaner. Even most wives of random personnel are spies too.

Only the truly political functions (ambassador and his wife) are not spies per se, but in Soviet times they came from the party and in current times they come from the mafia-services clique.

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