ISA (Days of our Lives)
Encyclopedia
ISA is an initialism for International Security Alliance, a fictional intelligence agency
on the soap opera
Days of our Lives
. A highly secretive organization, its agents have been operating in the small Midwestern town of Salem
at least since its first appearance on the show in the early 1980s (although several characters' histories indicate involvement well back into the mid-to-late 1970s). It is the counterpart to a similar organization on rival soap General Hospital
, the WSB (World Security Bureau), which appeared on that show around the same time.
The ISA is a sort of combination of a law enforcement organization, such as the FBI, DEA
, or Interpol
, and a spy
agency, such as the CIA or Britain's MI-6. Indeed, several of the agents on the show have been British, especially in the 1980s (e.g., Shane Donovan, Emma Donovan, Gillian Forester, Grace Forester, Simon Fairchild, Chief Tarrington), although the agency's main headquarters have always been purported to be in Washington, DC (but with an apparently important branch office in London
), and in more recent years the agency has in fact been identified more specifically as a branch of the U.S. government. The agency's mandate does appear to be more centered on law enforcement, with a specialty in the sort of high-level, international organized crime
that has tended to center in the otherwise quiet town of Salem.
The subjects of the ISA's investigations have typically been such highly sophisticated conspiracies as those controlled by the DiMera, Kiriakis, and Alamain families
, although an early storyline did involve the KGB
's role in stealing a set of forged U.S. Treasury bonds; former agent Philip Kiriakis
was recruited by the agency while on active duty with the U.S. Marines; and reference has been made to former agent Roman Brady
's exposure to biological warfare
while apparently on some sort of paramilitary
mission in South America
. Most recently, in summer 2010, agent Shane Donovan was seen in a South American prison while on a mission for the agency, purportedly involving the attempted assassination of that unnamed country's president (it was unclear whether Donovan was the supposed assassin, as claimed by his captors, or if he was simply investigating the incident). The deep-cover nature of its agents notwithstanding, the organization demonstrates frequent and open cooperation with local police. However, the agency's methodology is straight out of Robert Ludlum
or Ian Fleming
, including sophisticated gadgets, top-secret operations, political intrigue
and corruption, and even such questionable methods as assassination
and kidnapping
. In addition, the ISA has several of its own fairly advanced scientific and medical facilities throughout the world, dealing with such things as brainwashing and treating agents exposed to biological warfare
.
The ISA has from time to time been represented as something of a paramilitary
force rather than a civilian agency, and along with blurring the real-world lines between law enforcement and espionage, it appears to operate with impunity throughout the world and across jurisdictional lines, but does not appear to take sides in any real-world political controversy of the day. It does not appear to be related to the real-life ISA
, which is a clandestine intelligence-gathering branch of the U.S. Special Forces. However, the agency has also been occasionally susceptible to infiltration, counterespionage, and corruption
by its targets, particularly henchmen and -women employed by the DiMera, Kiriakis, and Alamain organizations.
Several of Salem's more prominent citizens have served at one time or another as agents for the ISA, including the aforementioned agents Brady
, Kiriakis
and hane Donovan|Donovan}}; Steve Johnson; Gabrielle Pascal; John Black
; and Billie Reed
. Others such as Bo Brady
, Hope Brady, Kimberly Brady
, Diana Colville, and Marlena Evans
, while not full-fledged agents, have assisted (willingly or unwillingly) in the agency's operations.
Intelligence agency
An intelligence agency is a governmental agency that is devoted to information gathering for purposes of national security and defence. Means of information gathering may include espionage, communication interception, cryptanalysis, cooperation with other institutions, and evaluation of public...
on the soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives
Days of our Lives is a long running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network. It is one of the longest-running scripted television programs in the world, airing nearly every weekday in the United States since November 8, 1965. It has since been syndicated to many countries around...
. A highly secretive organization, its agents have been operating in the small Midwestern town of Salem
Salem (Days of our Lives)
The town of Salem is the setting for the U.S. soap opera Days of our Lives. It is located in the Midwestern United States, though the state is never mentioned. It was built and named in 1802, since Salem celebrated its 200-year birthday in 2002. Originally set in New England, the vague setting was...
at least since its first appearance on the show in the early 1980s (although several characters' histories indicate involvement well back into the mid-to-late 1970s). It is the counterpart to a similar organization on rival soap General Hospital
General Hospital
General Hospital is an American daytime television drama that is credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as the longest-running American soap opera currently in production and the third longest running drama in television in American history after Guiding Light and As the World Turns....
, the WSB (World Security Bureau), which appeared on that show around the same time.
The ISA is a sort of combination of a law enforcement organization, such as the FBI, DEA
Drug Enforcement Administration
The Drug Enforcement Administration is a federal law enforcement agency under the United States Department of Justice, tasked with combating drug smuggling and use within the United States...
, or Interpol
Interpol
Interpol, whose full name is the International Criminal Police Organization – INTERPOL, is an organization facilitating international police cooperation...
, and a spy
SPY
SPY is a three-letter acronym that may refer to:* SPY , ticker symbol for Standard & Poor's Depositary Receipts* SPY , a satirical monthly, trademarked all-caps* SPY , airport code for San Pédro, Côte d'Ivoire...
agency, such as the CIA or Britain's MI-6. Indeed, several of the agents on the show have been British, especially in the 1980s (e.g., Shane Donovan, Emma Donovan, Gillian Forester, Grace Forester, Simon Fairchild, Chief Tarrington), although the agency's main headquarters have always been purported to be in Washington, DC (but with an apparently important branch office in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
), and in more recent years the agency has in fact been identified more specifically as a branch of the U.S. government. The agency's mandate does appear to be more centered on law enforcement, with a specialty in the sort of high-level, international organized crime
Organized crime
Organized crime or criminal organizations are transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals for the purpose of engaging in illegal activity, most commonly for monetary profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist organizations, are...
that has tended to center in the otherwise quiet town of Salem.
The subjects of the ISA's investigations have typically been such highly sophisticated conspiracies as those controlled by the DiMera, Kiriakis, and Alamain families
Crime family
A crime family is a term used to describe a unit of an organized crime syndicate, often operating within a specific geographic territory. The term is used almost exclusively to refer to units of the Mafia, both in Sicily and in the United States, although it is occasionally used to refer to other...
, although an early storyline did involve the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
's role in stealing a set of forged U.S. Treasury bonds; former agent Philip Kiriakis
Philip Kiriakis
Philip Robert Kiriakis is a character on the American soap opera Days of our Lives He has been portrayed by Brandon Tyler from October 21, 1999 to December 24, 1999, then by Jay Kenneth Johnson from December 27, 1999 to December 25, 2002 and Kyle Brandt from May 14, 2003 to October 12, 2006,...
was recruited by the agency while on active duty with the U.S. Marines; and reference has been made to former agent Roman Brady
Roman Brady
Roman Augustus Brady is a fictional character on the television drama Days of our Lives. Roman was played by Wayne Northrop from 1981 to 1984 and 1991 to 1994, and has been played by Josh Taylor since 1997, with a brief hiatus in early 2004, when he was a victim of the show's now-infamous serial...
's exposure to biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
while apparently on some sort of paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
mission in South America
South America
South America is a continent situated in the Western Hemisphere, mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere. The continent is also considered a subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered on the west by the Pacific Ocean and on the north and east...
. Most recently, in summer 2010, agent Shane Donovan was seen in a South American prison while on a mission for the agency, purportedly involving the attempted assassination of that unnamed country's president (it was unclear whether Donovan was the supposed assassin, as claimed by his captors, or if he was simply investigating the incident). The deep-cover nature of its agents notwithstanding, the organization demonstrates frequent and open cooperation with local police. However, the agency's methodology is straight out of Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum
Robert Ludlum was an American author of 23 thriller novels. The number of his books in print is estimated between 290–500 million copies. They have been published in 33 languages and 40 countries. Ludlum also published books under the pseudonyms Jonathan Ryder and Michael Shepherd.-Life and...
or Ian Fleming
Ian Fleming
Ian Lancaster Fleming was a British author, journalist and Naval Intelligence Officer.Fleming is best known for creating the fictional British spy James Bond and for a series of twelve novels and nine short stories about the character, one of the biggest-selling series of fictional books of...
, including sophisticated gadgets, top-secret operations, political intrigue
Intrigue
Intrigue is a Sámi band formed in 1989 in Kárášjohka Karasjok, Norway, that sings in North Sami and English.- Intrigue 1994 :# Is This The End# Revolution# Star In The Night# Iešjávre luntat# Angel Heart# Need Your Love# Liar# Voodoo Child# Orbin...
and corruption, and even such questionable methods as assassination
Assassination
To carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
and kidnapping
Kidnapping
In criminal law, kidnapping is the taking away or transportation of a person against that person's will, usually to hold the person in false imprisonment, a confinement without legal authority...
. In addition, the ISA has several of its own fairly advanced scientific and medical facilities throughout the world, dealing with such things as brainwashing and treating agents exposed to biological warfare
Biological warfare
Biological warfare is the use of biological toxins or infectious agents such as bacteria, viruses, and fungi with intent to kill or incapacitate humans, animals or plants as an act of war...
.
The ISA has from time to time been represented as something of a paramilitary
Paramilitary
A paramilitary is a force whose function and organization are similar to those of a professional military, but which is not considered part of a state's formal armed forces....
force rather than a civilian agency, and along with blurring the real-world lines between law enforcement and espionage, it appears to operate with impunity throughout the world and across jurisdictional lines, but does not appear to take sides in any real-world political controversy of the day. It does not appear to be related to the real-life ISA
Intelligence Support Activity
The United States Army Intelligence Support Activity , frequently shortened to Intelligence Support Activity or ISA, and nicknamed The Activity is a United States Army Special Operations unit originally subordinated to the US Army Intelligence and Security Command...
, which is a clandestine intelligence-gathering branch of the U.S. Special Forces. However, the agency has also been occasionally susceptible to infiltration, counterespionage, and corruption
Political corruption
Political corruption is the use of legislated powers by government officials for illegitimate private gain. Misuse of government power for other purposes, such as repression of political opponents and general police brutality, is not considered political corruption. Neither are illegal acts by...
by its targets, particularly henchmen and -women employed by the DiMera, Kiriakis, and Alamain organizations.
Several of Salem's more prominent citizens have served at one time or another as agents for the ISA, including the aforementioned agents Brady
Roman Brady
Roman Augustus Brady is a fictional character on the television drama Days of our Lives. Roman was played by Wayne Northrop from 1981 to 1984 and 1991 to 1994, and has been played by Josh Taylor since 1997, with a brief hiatus in early 2004, when he was a victim of the show's now-infamous serial...
, Kiriakis
Philip Kiriakis
Philip Robert Kiriakis is a character on the American soap opera Days of our Lives He has been portrayed by Brandon Tyler from October 21, 1999 to December 24, 1999, then by Jay Kenneth Johnson from December 27, 1999 to December 25, 2002 and Kyle Brandt from May 14, 2003 to October 12, 2006,...
and hane Donovan|Donovan}}; Steve Johnson; Gabrielle Pascal; John Black
John Black (fiction)
John Black is a fictional character on the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives, played by Drake Hogestyn since January 10, 1986, with brief interruptions from October 26, 2007 to January 8, 2008, and most recently January 23, 2009 to September 26, 2011...
; and Billie Reed
Billie Reed
Billie Reed is a fictional character from the NBC soap opera Days of our Lives. The character is no longer used in the current storylines. Created by writer Sheri Anderson, the role was originated by actress Lisa Rinna on September 21, 1992. Krista Allen stepped into the role from 1996-1999. Lisa...
. Others such as Bo Brady
Bo Brady
Beauregard Aurelius "Bo" Brady is a fictional character on the NBC Soap Opera, Days of our Lives, the youngest of the series' Brady family. Created under head-writer Margaret DePreist, the role was originated by actor Peter Reckell on May 2, 1983. Robert Kelker-Kelly briefly stepped into the role...
, Hope Brady, Kimberly Brady
Kimberly Brady (fiction)
Kimberly Brady is a fictional character on the television soap opera Days of our Lives. She has been portrayed by Patsy Pease ; Anne Marie Howard ; Ariana Chase ; and Casey Wallace Kimberly Brady (formerly Donovan) is a fictional character on the television soap opera Days of our Lives. She has...
, Diana Colville, and Marlena Evans
Marlena Evans
Dr. Marlena Evans Black is a long-running fictional character on the NBC daytime drama, Days of our Lives, a long running serial about working life in the fictional town of Salem. She was played by actress Deidre Hall since 1976, with a few minor breaks in between from 1987 to March 1991 and...
, while not full-fledged agents, have assisted (willingly or unwillingly) in the agency's operations.