Real Espionage vs. Metal Gear Solid

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Hideo Kojima's video game series METAL GEAR SOLID is well known for popularizing tactical espionage action. Ignoring the more fantastical elements, how does its version of spying measure up against the real world?

In this brief video, I cover the entire MGS series, going through what each game did differently in terms of connections to real-life intelligence, with well cited definitions and examples pulled from official sources, e.g. encyclopedias from the CIA and NSA, and articles from the International Spy Museum.

Join me as we discuss espionage in MGS, from HUMINT, to SIGINT, Honey Traps, the 'Wilderness of Mirrors', and more!

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Provided here is a glossary of all the terms from this video:

Espionage - "The employment of secret agents in covert collection of information."

HUMINT - "Intelligence collected from human sources"

Asset / Source - "That from which the information or intelligence is received, either initially or at the various stages of transmission." "A clandestine source or method, usually...a person unofficially employed by an intelligence service, often as a source of information."

Direct Action - "Short-duration strikes and other small-scale offensive actions conducted as a special operation in hostile, denied, or politically sensitive environments and which employ specialized military capabilities to seize, destroy, capture, exploit, recover, or damage designated targets."

Paramilitary - “forces or groups distinct from the regular armed forces of any country, but resembling them in organization, equipment, training or mission.”

Covert Operation - "Hidden, secret or disguised so as not to reveal the real character or intent."

Clandestine Operation - "Covert activities undertaken contrary to the laws and desires of the government of the country, or the organization in which the activities take place."

SIGINT -"consists of:

Communications Intelligence (COMINT) – technical and intelligence information derived from intercept of foreign communications.
Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) – information collected from systems such as radars and other weapons systems.
Foreign Instrumentation Signals Intelligence (FISINT) – signals detected from weapons under testing and development."

OSINT - " drawn from publicly available material, including:

The Internet
Traditional mass media (e.g. television, radio, newspapers, magazines)
Specialized journals, conference proceedings, and think tank studies
Photos
Geospatial information (e.g. maps and commercial imagery products)"

MASINT - "scientific and technical intelligence information obtained by quantitative and qualitative analysis of data (metric, angle, spatial, wavelength, time dependence, modulation, plasma, and hydromagnetic) derived from specific technical sensors for the purpose of identifying any distinctive features associated with the source, emitter, or sender and to facilitate subsequent identification and/or measurement of the same."
Disinformation - "misinforming through the dissemination of information that is totally or partially false."

Honey Trap - "That attractive stranger smiling at you from across the bar: possible romance, or a honey trap ready to seduce secrets out of you? They may even have been sent by your own side, to test your loyalty. The KGB named their male seducers ravens and the females swallows. Honey—but not so sweet."

Mole - "An agent of one organization sent to penetrate a specific intelligence agency by gaining employment; a term popularized by John Le Carre"

IC - "The Intelligence Community...made up of 17 [organizations]"

Double Agent - "An agent...who is serving or employed by two or more principals who are opposed to each other."

The "Wilderness of Mirrors" - "[James Jesus] Angleton lived and thrived in what he called “the wilderness of mirrors,” his favorite phrase for... deception operations. "
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingro...
https://www.spymuseum.org/education-p...
https://fas.org/sgp/crs/intel/RS22017...
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/...
https://fas.org/irp/program/masint.htm
https://www.cia.gov/news-information/...
https://www.cia.gov/library/readingro...
https://spyscape.com/article/spy-glos...
https://www.intelligence.gov/how-the-...
https://theintercept.com/2018/01/01/t...
https://www.militaryfactory.com/dicti...
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