West facing spy shortage – former MI6 agent
Western intelligence agencies are struggling to recruit fresh blood as younger generations have started to prioritize existential issues such as climate change and human rights, a former British intelligence operative has told Australia’s ABC News.
According to former MI6 agent and author Harry Ferguson, who spent decades working for British intelligence around the world, young people have grown disillusioned with the ways of the past.
“From 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan and at this very moment if you look at what’s happening in Gaza and in Lebanon, a lot of young people are saying, ‘Why would I want to contribute to that, when you’re not doing any good?’,” he told ABC.
The former spy noted that when he was recruited by MI6, there was a “clear enemy to fight.” Today, however, the issues facing the world are less clear, Ferguson noted, adding that young people still want to serve society, but see that in other ways such as tackling climate change, human rights and other political issues.
“The effects of that are slightly different in each country, but we are noticing that this cultural shift is a political shift and the desire to not make the world a worse place is actually affecting recruitment,” Ferguson added, stating that this is a trend that is impacting intelligence services “all over the Western world.”
As noted by ABC, British and Australian intelligence agencies have launched social media campaigns and relaxed hiring criteria in the hope of boosting recruitment.
But they have nevertheless continued to face difficulty finding common ground with younger people.
In Australia, experts have noted that the country was not generating enough workers with the necessary skills in geopolitics, often due to the fact that people in their early 20s saw climate change as a bigger threat than hostile nations.
Afeeya Akhand, from the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, told ABC that Western spy agencies need to change the definition of national security to include issues like COVID and climate change, and work towards integrating the views of the next generation, explaining to them that they can address a range of issues through security and government agencies.
Ferguson also noted that young people who care about the environment and human rights could become valuable assets for intelligence services as they have many skills they don’t know about yet and could make “superb agent runners” work undercover.
