On 18 September 1947, the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) was officially formed - sanctioned by the US National Security Act of the same year.
It heralded a new chapter in US history, marking a monumental shift in how the nation engaged with the global landscape.
What emerged from this legislative act was an institution veiled in secrecy, answerable only to a select few, and tasked with safeguarding American interests across an increasingly volatile post-war world.
Yet, from the very beginning, the CIA embodied a paradox—one that continues to fuel critique and controversy today - in the pursuit of protecting democracy, the Agency has often strayed into actions that many argue undermine the very ideals it seeks to defend.
Borne of fear and uncertainty
The origins of the CIA lie in the geopolitical anxieties that gripped the world following World War II.
As the war drew to a close, two superpowers emerged, locked in an ideological conflict: the capitalist United States and the communist Soviet Union.
US President Truman, who was thrust into leadership after Roosevelt's death, found himself at the helm of a nation facing unprecedented threats, not only to its security but to the global balance of power.
The Cold War had begun, and information—covert intelligence—became a weapon as powerful as any arsenal of missiles.
Truman understood that the United States needed to establish an intelligence apparatus capable of engaging in clandestine activities abroad to counter Soviet expansionism.
Failure of the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), which had been the U.S. wartime intelligence agency, underscored the need for a new, more agile organisation.
Thus, the CIA was born—not merely as a collector of intelligence but as an active participant in shaping foreign policy through covert operations, espionage, and even regime change.
From protectors to puppeteers
What was initially intended as a bulwark against foreign threats soon transformed into a tool of interventionist policies that veered sharply from the democratic values the U.S. purported to uphold.
From the early 1950s, the CIA embarked on a series of covert operations that overthrew democratically elected governments and installed puppet regimes aligned with American interests.
The Iranian coup of 1953, which deposed Prime Minister Mohammad Mossadegh, and the 1954 Guatemalan coup, where President Jacobo Árbenz was ousted, are two of the most glaring examples of CIA overreach.
In both instances, the CIA justified its actions under the guise of containing communism, but the long-term effects were disastrous—ushering in decades of autocratic rule, human rights abuses, and anti-American sentiment.
Critics argue that the very existence of such an agency, empowered to operate without transparency, raises fundamental concerns about the integrity of democratic governance.
The CIA has, time and again, been shielded from scrutiny—its activities classified, its budget concealed.
It operates in the shadows, away from public oversight, engaging in actions that often contradict the nation's professed commitment to freedom and self-determination.
Drama and dilemma
US President Truman himself, just a few years after the CIA's establishment, grew concerned about the agency’s trajectory.
In a candid reflection published in 1963, Truman expressed discomfort with the CIA’s growing role as a policy-making entity, stating, "I never had any thought when I set up the CIA that it would be injected into peacetime cloak-and-dagger operations."
His words reflected an unease that the agency, rather than serving as a passive intelligence-gathering body, had morphed into something far more insidious—a machine for secret warfare, accountable to no one but the executive branch.
The central critique here lies in the ethical dilemmas posed by such unchecked power.
In its efforts to shield the nation from external threats, the CIA has often engaged in morally dubious activities, including torture, extraordinary rendition, and covert assassinations.
The question that looms large is whether such actions can ever be justified in the pursuit of national security.
Can a nation, so vociferous in its claim to moral high ground, reconcile its ideals with the realpolitik tactics employed by the CIA?
A relic of Cold War paranoia?
The CIA’s establishment in 1947 was a watershed moment in American history, but it also laid the groundwork for a secret state apparatus that continues to operate in the murky spaces between legality and necessity.
Truman’s creation may have been borne out of the Cold War’s exigencies, but in the decades since, the agency has evolved into a symbol of American interventionism—simultaneously feared and respected, criticised and defended.
The ultimate critique, however, lies in the broader question: Can democracy endure when its protectors operate in the shadows?
