Central Intelligence Agency

The Central Intelligence Agency is a U.S. government agency that collects and analyzes foreign intelligence and conducts covert operations abroad. It operates separately from the armed forces and has no domestic law-enforcement role.

Intelligence cycle: A process for directing intelligence needs, collecting information, analyzing it, and sharing findings with decision-makers. The CIA organizes much of its work around turning assigned questions into intelligence products.
Office of Strategic Services: A U.S. wartime intelligence and special-operations agency active from 1942 to 1945. Its personnel and institutional practices helped shape the CIA’s early organization.
Allen Dulles: The CIA’s director from 1953 to 1961 and a leading figure in its early expansion. His tenure defined the agency’s prominent covert-action role during the Cold War.
Federal Bureau of Investigation: A U.S. federal law-enforcement and domestic intelligence agency within the Department of Justice. Unlike the CIA, the FBI has domestic investigative and law-enforcement authority.
1953 Iranian coup d'état: The overthrow of Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953, supported by U.S. and British intelligence services. The CIA’s role became a lasting source of controversy in U.S.–Iranian relations.
Directorate of Operations: The CIA component responsible for clandestine human intelligence collection and covert action. Its officers recruit sources and carry out operations abroad.
National Security Act of 1947: A U.S. law that reorganized national security institutions and established the CIA. It gave the agency its statutory foundation.
George Tenet: The CIA’s director from 1997 to 2004, serving under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush. His leadership became closely associated with the agency’s intelligence failures before the Iraq War.
National Security Agency: A U.S. agency responsible for signals intelligence and information assurance. The NSA specializes in communications and electronic intelligence rather than the CIA’s broader mission.
1954 Guatemalan coup d'état: The overthrow of Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz in 1954, backed by a CIA-organized operation. It became a prominent example of CIA covert action changing a foreign government.

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