THE MISSION

Peering behind the curtain.

This masterful new history should be required reading for anyone who wants to understand the CIA’s place in U.S. foreign policy in the 21st century. Weiner takes us through every foreign policy crisis since 9/11 and describes the CIA’s role, often in astonishing detail. Having written about intelligence and espionage for three decades at the New York Times, his authority is formidable. His previous book on the CIA, Legacy of Ashes, won a National Book Award in 2007. Weiner’s new book stands out for his unprecedented access to CIA officers past and present. As he writes in the foreword: “Among them was the man who created the CIA’s secret prison system, the woman who helped take down the world’s biggest nuclear-weapons technology smuggling ring, a deep-cover spy who had put presidents on his payroll, station chiefs who served on four continents, and the sitting chief of the CIA’s clandestine service—a man who had been undercover for thirty-three years and had never talked to a journalist in his life.” The result is a narrative that defies fiction. Among other crucial moments, the book reveals the soul-searching and finger-pointing that nearly derailed the 2013 release by the Senate Intelligence Committee of the Torture Report, which described in horrible detail the interrogation methods used in the battle against al-Qaida. The book also describes the shocking effectiveness of Russian and Chinese cyberattacks. Weiner pegs the difference between the two foes: “China wanted to know their enemies. The Russians simply want to screw them.” Still, the CIA directed the multilateral decade-long intelligence operations that enabled NATO and Ukraine to prepare for and react quickly to the Russian invasion in 2023. The CIA is the most studied and misunderstood of any U.S. government agency. Weiner’s book is a balanced and nuanced account that should change that.

A singular triumph—an intimate chronicle of the CIA, its crises, and its opportunities since 9/11.