The Importance of Strategic Intelligence and Covert Operations in Foreign Policy: Iran’s Policy in The Balkans (The Example of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania)

30.06.2024 | İbrahim RASULOV , Murat JANE

Before embarking on any intelligence activity or covert/overt operation, states need to obtain some information about the target country in order to draw a path for themselves. This information is collected by states under the headings of strategic intelligence. Information gathered within the scope of strategic intelligence is evaluated in a wide environment. Long-term plans are one of the characteristics of strategic intelligence. States sometimes engage in different operations in the states they target for their interests. Sometimes these operations are carried out openly, sometimes covertly, without stating their intentions. Such covert operations are defined as covert actions in the literature. As understood from this point, strategic intelligence can also be considered as the preparatory stage for covert operations. In this study, Iran's policy in the Balkans is evaluated through Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania in the context of long-term strategic intelligence planning and covert operations. Iran has determined that the primary condition for realizing its policies in the Balkans is the religious factor. Moreover, Iran constantly uses the factor of ideological motives to sustain its political activities in these countries. As an intelligence method, Iran adopts the use of soft power to attract the attention of the public. Iran spreads Shiite ideology through the clerics it sends to the region, and through the scientific centers it opens, it wants to carry out cultural and scientific projects by establishing connections with the scholars in the region. This study argues that Iran aims to build political weight in the region by using soft and sometimes hard power elements (within the scope of strategic intelligence and covert operations).

Rasulov, İ. ve Jane, M. (2024). The Importance of Strategic Intelligence and Covert Operations in Foreign Policy: Iran’s Policy in The Balkans (The Example of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Albania). Journal of Intelligence Research and Studies, 3(2), pp.212-242, DOI: 10.61314/icad.1491465