SPY AGENCY START UPS: NOW A GROWTH INDUSTRY: Japan launched a new centralized intelligence body on Friday for the first time since World War II, with the National Intelligence Bureau replacing structures long criticized as disjointed and ineffective. According to Nikkei Asia, supporters say the NIB is meant to lay groundwork for an eventual anti-spy law and a full external foreign intelligence service along the lines of the CIA or MI6. Tokyo has reportedly been shopping for advice from the U.S., Australia, and Germany. Sweden, meanwhile, is building its own MI6 knockoff after concluding its military intelligence service was excellent at counting tanks and terrible at reading minds. Per The Economist, the review, the brainchild of former PM Carl Bildt, found Sweden's spy shop could track Russian hardware but whiffed badly on Russian intentions, most notably in the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The new outfit called Utrikes underrättelsetjänst (mercifully shortened to “UND”) is expected to be up and running by early next year. Bottom line up front: it seems like today's spy business is booming — mostly on the strength of hindsight.
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