| Summary/Abstract |
Despite Hollywood romanticizing about the fictional escapades of various James Bonds and Jason Bournes, one of the most prevalent forms of modern intelligence activity is arguably the least emphasized: economic and industrial espionage. Aimed at garnering financial and innovation advantages for countries seeking greater influence in a highly globalized world, this activity is not merely about economic policy. It also serves as a de facto proxy military rivalry: states maneuver to outperform, outwit, and “outstrategize” their competitors across all spheres of profitable activity via this lesser “INT.” Like the more ubiquitous concept of soft power, soft spying (a term interchangeable with “economic and/or industrial espionage”) is the avoidance of war while still achieving dominance, wherein states engage one another in myriad transactions and contestations, and global futures can rise or fall without a single bullet being fired. Soft spying is an under-emphasized aspect of globalization and the ever-increasing transnational technical connectivity among nations. More importantly for Americans, structural/cultural flaws in the world of business reveal how the United States might arguably always end up more victim than perpetrator in this globally pervasive activity.
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