Part 3 (Final)
By Akbar Jamal
Foreign intelligence infiltration into a state does not arrive like a sudden storm. It moves slowly, quietly, and gradually, like termites eating away at the roots of a strong tree from within. By the time the decay becomes visible, the tree is already on the verge of collapse. The history of intelligence and statecraft shows that when infiltration reaches its administrative and political peak, such as the sudden rise of someone like Shaukat Aziz to the office of Prime Minister under General Musharraf’s military rule, or when institutions like the IMF gain decisive influence over a country’s central bank, what people are witnessing is not the beginning but the final stage of a long process that started years earlier.
The real question is whether such dangerous infiltration can be recognized before it reaches that final stage. Can a state build an early warning system capable of detecting the first signs of danger within its own institutions? The answer lies in a number of sensitive indicators that reveal themselves across different parts of the state long before the damage becomes obvious.
Because the economy is the easiest and fastest path for foreign influence, its first signs usually appear there before anywhere else. One of the clearest indicators is the sudden emergence of technocrats in the highest financial institutions. When people whose intellectual outlook and professional careers are closely tied to the IMF, the World Bank, and other international financial organizations begin taking charge of the central bank, the finance ministry, or the country’s tax administration, it is a sign that control over policymaking is gradually passing into outside hands.
Such people are introduced as economic saviors, but their real priority is often to protect the interests of international financial institutions rather than the national interests of the country itself.
Another warning sign appears in unusual and unreasonable legal changes that steadily weaken state sovereignty. When parliament or the cabinet approves laws that remove institutions such as the central bank from constitutional accountability and place them, in practice, under the influence of outside institutions, it becomes clear that foreign influence is putting down administrative roots.
Pakistan itself offers a recent example. General Asim Munir, who now holds the self-styled rank of Field Marshal, and President Asif Ali Zardari have been granted lifetime immunity from public and judicial accountability. The meaning of such measures is hard to ignore. Asim Munir, who is widely seen as seeking favor in Washington, has effectively assumed the role of a “Lawrence of Pakistan” by advancing policies that serve American interests. Another sign appears when the state’s most important policies are no longer drafted by its own experienced officials and specialists but by foreign-funded consultants. These consultants arrive under the banner of development assistance, yet their real function is often to implement outside priorities rather than national ones. In this way, the state’s economic thinking gradually comes under external control.
Political infiltration follows the same pattern. It begins when the constitution and the will of the people are pushed aside. History shows that foreign powers find it difficult to dominate a healthy political system because parliament, an independent judiciary, opposition parties, and an alert public all stand in the way. But once a military elite or an authoritarian ruler dismantles the political system and concentrates power in one place, it creates the very vacuum through which foreign influence enters.
One of the earliest signs of political infiltration is the appearance of unnatural political settlements. When the country’s normal political process is suspended, decisions are made behind closed doors, new political parties suddenly appear, and individuals with no real public support are elevated to power, it usually signals that the system is being prepared for a particular outside purpose. Governments born in this way lack genuine public legitimacy and naturally become dependent on foreign backing for their survival.
Another warning sign appears when the state’s official position changes abruptly, abandoning its long-term national interests and established allies in favor of policies that primarily satisfy outside demands.
Military and security institutions are supposed to form the last line of defense for every state. Here, the indicators of infiltration become even more sensitive. The greatest danger appears when these institutions abandon their real mission. Once the military leadership and intelligence agencies become more occupied with domestic politics, media censorship, pressure on judges, and political engineering than with protecting borders, countering foreign intelligence operations, and safeguarding national security, the state’s most dangerous security vacuum has already emerged.
When security institutions become instruments of coercion instead of national defense, foreign networks find it much easier to gain access, collect intelligence, and shape state policy from within.
Another serious warning sign is easy access to the country’s national information infrastructure. If central databases, communications networks, and strategic digital systems come under the influence of foreign companies, foreign managers, or organizations that are not properly subjected to security scrutiny, infiltration has reached one of its final stages.
Once the state’s information and communications are no longer secure, the country’s entire defensive structure begins to weaken from within.
Long before economic and political control is fully established, however, foreign influence first works on the minds of both the public and the elite. The battle of narratives and propaganda forms the fourth major stage of infiltration.
Its earliest sign is the deliberate spread of manufactured despair through the media and social networks. People are constantly told that their country can no longer survive on its own, that national sovereignty and dignity are nothing more than empty slogans, and that the only path to survival is complete acceptance of every condition imposed by the United States and the IMF. Once this mindset takes hold, intellectual infiltration has already achieved its purpose.
Another sign is the revival of an intellectual model resembling the thinking of Lord Macaulay. Writers, analysts, and intellectuals begin portraying the country’s history, values, and strategic assets as obstacles to progress. Outwardly they speak the language of their own people and present themselves as patriots, but their ideas ultimately serve foreign objectives.
Their task is to weaken society mentally so that when economic and political dependence is imposed, the people are no longer capable of resisting it. The conclusion of this third and final part is straightforward. Foreign influence never arrives suddenly. It always enters through the cracks created by the breakdown of constitutional rule, economic disorder, and military interference in politics.
The strongest defense against infiltration is transparency, the unconditional supremacy of the constitution, and genuine institutional accountability.
Whenever decisions are made behind closed doors, against the will of the people, and without the participation of independent state institutions, that is where foreign influence begins. Unless these early warning signs are constantly monitored, states will continue bargaining away their independence, while their people, often without realizing it, are pushed deeper into a condition of dependence from which escape becomes increasingly difficult.
