What Exactly Is Medical Spying?
From VOA Learning English, this is As It Is.
I'm Anna Matteo in Washington.
Not all spies target military, political or economic intelligence. Some gather medical intelligence.
Presidents, prime ministers and other leaders do not always like to talk about their health. Some disappear from public life for a while and then reappear, with or without an explanation.
Spy agencies search for information about physical and mental health. The idea that a leader might even lose his mind and launch a war or a nuclear attack is not an imaginary threat.
The Central Intelligence Agency has a Medical and Psychological Assessment Cell. It employs or consults with doctors, sociologists, political scientists and cultural anthropologists to examine the conditions of top officials.
Jonathan Clemente is a doctor doing research for a book on medical intelligence. He says the CIA team tries to predict how a leader will act.
"What they try and do on the psychological side of things in describe a constellation of psychiatric signs and symptoms, and then to describe for the policy makers how someone with that particular set of findings may react to certain situations."
This work goes back to the Office of Strategic Services, which came before the CIA. The OSS did a psychological profile of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler in Germany.
The CIA was established in 1947. Dr. Clemente says the agency formed a small office called "Leadership at a Distance."
"In the late fifties and early nineteen sixties, the CIA decided that they had expertise to look more carefully and in a more rigorous, analytical way at the health of foreign leaders in order to help give policy makers some forewarning of a transition in a government, stability of foreign governments, and also looking for potential points of diplomatic leverage."
Experts say dying leaders can feel the need to act quickly to make sure their decisions live longer than they do.
Physical and mental health are closely linked. But identifying a mental condition without direct examination of a person can be much more difficult than a physical disorder.
Rose McDermott is a political psychologist at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. She points out that an illness like bipolar disease can be well-controlled on medication. But a leader's behavior can also be affected by medication taken for a physical condition.
Rose McDermott: "The concern is not just the illness, it's also the medication that people take while they are ill and how that can compromise their decision-making ability, cognitively and intellectually. So they don't make the same kind of decisions, their decisions may not be as predictable. They certainly may not be as, quote unquote, rational.
Professor McDermott has written extensively on medical intelligence.
ROSE McDERMOTT: "It can be decisively important because it can really change the stability of governments, particularly in authoritarian or totalitarian regimes, where there's really a limited number of people who have powerful decision-making authority."
And I'm Anna Matteo.
What about the leaders from your country? Any hidden health secrets you'd like to share? Do it in our comment section where you can also practice your written English!
词汇解析
imaginary
难度:1星畅通词汇,属常用20000词
英汉解释
adj.想象的;虚构的
参考例句
用作形容词 (adj.)
We play out an imaginary confrontation in our mind.
我们的脑海中浮现出一种想象的冲突。
People still have a general fear for the imaginary infernal powers.
人们对于虚构的地狱中的鬼神仍具有一种普遍的恐惧。
research
难度:5星基本词汇,属常用1000词
英汉解释
n.研究;调查
v.研究;调查
参考例句
用作名词 (n.)
Research indicates that men find it easier to give up smoking than women.
研究表明,男人比女人更容易戒烟。
用作动词 (v.)
They have been researching the effects of the drug on mice.
他们一直在研究老鼠对这种药物的反应。
predict
难度:4星核心词汇,属常用3000词
英汉解释
v.预言;预报;预知;预测
参考例句
用作动词 (v.)
It is virtually impossible to predict the future accurately.
精确预言未来的事实际上是办不到的。
policy
难度:5星基本词汇,属常用1000词
英汉解释
n.政策;方针
n.保险单
参考例句
用作名词 (n.)
This latest incident may be the lever needed to change government policy.
最近的事件或许可以作为迫使政府改变政策所需的手段。
It's the company's policy to sacrifice short-term profits for the sake of long-term growth.
为长期发展而牺牲短期利润是公司的方针。
react
难度:3星常用词汇,属常用6000词
英汉解释
v.反应;反攻
参考例句
用作动词 (v.)
The British would never react militarily to the invasion of the islands.
英国根本不会在他们侵占福岛后在军事上进行反攻。
The Glade Riders and Warhawk Riders are swift and skilful beastmasters, striking with speed before the foe can react.
森林骑兵和战鹰骑士都能灵巧地驾驭他们的坐骑,从而能迅速地攻击敌人,致使其不能反攻。
agency
难度:4星核心词汇,属常用3000词
英汉解释
n.代理;代理处;政府机构
参考例句
用作名词 (n.)
I hope we can see eye to eye about the other terms of the agency then.
我希望到那时候我们能在代理协议的其他条款上能取得一致意见。
The agent is the person who works for a government agency in secret.
特工人员是为政府部门秘密工作的人。
stability
难度:3星常用词汇,属常用6000词
英汉解释
n.稳定性;居于修道院
参考例句
用作名词 (n.)
The government has taken a measure to maintain the stability of prices.
政府已经采取了措施以确保物价稳定。
The question of stability of an equilibrium is very important.
一个平衡点的稳定性问题是非常重要的。
potential
难度:4星核心词汇,属常用3000词
英汉解释
adj.潜在的;可能的
n.潜力;潜能
n.电位;电势
参考例句
用作形容词 (adj.)
These potential effects must be studied carefully.
这些潜在的影响必须仔细地加以研究。
用作名词 (n.)
We can only measure the difference between the potentials of two half cells when they are linked to form an electrochemical cell.
当两个半电池连接形成一个化学电池时,我们仅能测定两个半电池之间电位的差值。
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