| Publication |
2012.
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| Summary/Abstract |
A representative sampling of 53 treatises onRe militari, diplomacy and theory of state that were published in Europe is analyzed in order to outline the role of secret intelligence in the direction of armies and the government during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The participation of spies, confidants and informers in the exercise of power, whether political, military or economic is a timeless constant, which is not at all anecdotal or marginal. We offer conclusions regarding the formalization of modern intelligence systems based on concepts as closely related as secrets, advice and deception, which configure the precursors of the systematic theory of contemporary intelligence.
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