Abstract:
Between 1955 and 1963 Western intelligence agencies regularly met in
Thailand under the auspices of the SEATO defence pact. The
proceedings of the Committee of Security Experts (CSE) demonstrate
a number of internal tensions within Western intelligence and between
them and Asian security bodies. A study of the CSE also demonstrates
the difficulty in employing counter-subversion strategies when they
impinge on democratic rights. The multilateral CSE largely failed in its
stated objectives while SEATO was increasingly by-passed by the
United States, which pursued a more unilateral course culminating in
the Vietnam War.
