In the midst of World War II, facing multiple threats in a complicated series of engagements around the world, the US and the UK entered into a highly-secret, trusted agreement to share signals intelligence they gathered on the enemy. In the decade that followed WWII, the agreement was expanded to include Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The group that was formed with the purpose of sharing signals intelligence with trusted partners that shared core values, became known as the 'Five Eyes'.
Not much was known about the ‘Five Eyes’ publicly until the damaging national security leaks made by Edward Snowden in 2013. Since then, other countries have been eager to seek a seat at the table, but in a world more complicated than that of 1945, that can be a tall order. Today, disagreements among the core Five Eyes countries over how to tackle 5G security concerns and how to counter an aggressive China, can make matters even more complicated.
BACKGROUND:
- The Five Eyes Alliance (FVEY) is an intelligence-sharing alliance that includes the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand.
- The alliance grew out of intelligence sharing partnerships forged during World War II and has, until recently, rarely been discussed in public.
- The alliance is based on an agreement between the US and the UK in 1946, known as the UKUSA Agreement that set forth a treaty for the sharing of signals intelligence (SIGINT).
- Between 1946 – 1956, additional appendices were introduced that expanded the relationship to include Australia, Canada and New Zealand.
THE BRIEF: This week, The Cipher Brief’s International Summit is welcoming four national security experts with direct knowledge of the basis, importance and challenges facing the Five Eyes alliance, and as a pre-brief read ahead, we wanted to share their thoughts on the importance of the alliance and what they see as the primary challenges and opportunities ahead for information sharing.
