A comparative international perspective challenges conventional narratives about unacknowledged intervention"Covert action" is generally understood as politically motivated and plausibly deniable interference by one state in the affairs of another state. It includes propaganda, political or economic subversion, paramilitary action, and assassinations. Covert action is the most consequential and controversial form of secret statecraft, and it has become a ubiquitous feature of inter...

In 2012 the author and his wife left their jobs and their home in Perth, Western Australia, to sail 6000 miles to a new life in Melbourne, Victoria.Their voyage took in the remote tropical top half of Australia and included long distance passages, storms, adverse weather, breakdowns, Aboriginal communities, sharks and crocodiles and much more. Most importantly, it allowed the two of them to see a part of the world that very few people ever visit, even Australians.After 12 months of...

"Covert action" is generally understood as politically motivated and plausibly deniable interference by one state in the affairs of another state. It includes propaganda, political or economic subversion, paramilitary action, and assassinations. Covert action is the most consequential and controversial form of secret statecraft, and it has become a ubiquitous feature of international politics. However, it is often sensationalized or seen through a narrow, US-centric lens.Covert...

Magda Santos is a lawyer in San Francisco. Of Portuguese and Mexican descent, she's "as American as Taco Bell." Forced out of her law firm and newly on her own, she's found a haven and a cultural outlet as a member of an obscure dance-and-martial-arts cult, the Xuchil Dancers. Sworn to secrecy, she learns erotic dance steps and powerful attack and defense techniques, which are combined in intense initiation rituals and performances.Magda specializes in bank fraud, so when two wealt...