The Moscow Rules
Encyclopedia
The Moscow Rules is the name for rules
said to have been developed by the CIA during the Cold War
to be used by spies and others working in Moscow.
The rules are associated with Moscow because the city developed a reputation as being a particularly harsh locale for clandestine operatives who were exposed. The list may never have existed as written; agent Tony Mendez
wrote "Although no one had written them down, they were the precepts we all understood ... By the time they got to Moscow, everyone knew these rules. They were dead simple and full of common sense...".
In the International Spy Museum
in Washington, D.C., the Moscow Rules are given as:
e.g. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
and Smiley's People
. The newest novel that uses these rules is by Daniel Silva, entitled 'Moscow Rules'. In these works, the rules are not general precepts, but methods of tradecraft
, such as using chalk marks and thumbtacks as signals, the use of dead drop
s, and the ways to signal the need for a (rare) face-to-face meeting. Moscow Rules are important at the beginning of Smiley's People, where the General invokes the rules to request a meeting with Smiley, but he is followed and killed by KGB
assassins before it can happen. The applicable rule states that no documents may be carried that cannot be instantly discarded, in this instance a 35mm negative concealed in an empty pack of cigarettes.
In Ian Fleming
's 1959 novel Goldfinger, Auric Goldfinger
mentions this last rule to James Bond in Goldfinger's warehouse in Geneva.
Rule of thumb
A rule of thumb is a principle with broad application that is not intended to be strictly accurate or reliable for every situation. It is an easily learned and easily applied procedure for approximately calculating or recalling some value, or for making some determination...
said to have been developed by the CIA during the Cold War
Cold War
The Cold War was the continuing state from roughly 1946 to 1991 of political conflict, military tension, proxy wars, and economic competition between the Communist World—primarily the Soviet Union and its satellite states and allies—and the powers of the Western world, primarily the United States...
to be used by spies and others working in Moscow.
The rules are associated with Moscow because the city developed a reputation as being a particularly harsh locale for clandestine operatives who were exposed. The list may never have existed as written; agent Tony Mendez
Tony Mendez
Tony Mendez is a former CIA technical operations officer. His job was to support clandestine and covert CIA operations...
wrote "Although no one had written them down, they were the precepts we all understood ... By the time they got to Moscow, everyone knew these rules. They were dead simple and full of common sense...".
List
An abbreviated list of the probably-fictional Moscow Rules has circulated around the Internet and in fiction:- Assume nothing.
- MurphyMurphy's lawMurphy's law is an adage or epigram that is typically stated as: "Anything that can go wrong will go wrong". - History :The perceived perversity of the universe has long been a subject of comment, and precursors to the modern version of Murphy's law are not hard to find. Recent significant...
is right. - Never go against your gut; it is your operational antenna.
- Don't look back; you are never completely alone.
- Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
- Go with the flow, blend in.
- Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
- Any operation can be aborted. If it feels wrong, it is wrong.
- Maintain a natural pace.
- Lull them into a sense of complacency.
- Build in opportunity, but use it sparingly.
- Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. (borrowed from Muhammad AliMuhammad AliMuhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
, aka Cassius Clay.) - Don't harass the opposition.
- There is no limit to a human being's ability to rationalize the truth.
- Pick the time and place for action.
- Keep your options open.
- Once is an accident. Twice is coincidence. Three times is an enemy action. (taken from Ian Fleming's novel Goldfinger)
In the International Spy Museum
International Spy Museum
The International Spy Museum is a privately owned museum dedicated to the field of espionage located within the 1875 Le Droit Building in the Penn Quarter neighborhood of Washington, D.C., across the street from the Old Patent Office Building and one block south of the Gallery Place Metro...
in Washington, D.C., the Moscow Rules are given as:
- Assume nothing.
- Never go against your gut.
- Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
- Don't look back; you are never completely alone.
- Go with the flow, blend in.
- Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
- Lull them into a sense of complacency.
- Don't harass the opposition.
- Pick the time and place for action.
- Keep your options open.
Fictional references
Referred to in the works of John le CarréJohn le Carré
David John Moore Cornwell , who writes under the name John le Carré, is an author of espionage novels. During the 1950s and the 1960s, Cornwell worked for MI5 and MI6, and began writing novels under the pseudonym "John le Carré"...
e.g. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy
Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is a 1974 British spy novel by John le Carré, featuring George Smiley. Smiley is a middle-aged, taciturn, perspicacious intelligence expert in forced retirement. He is recalled to hunt down a Soviet mole in the "Circus", the highest echelon of the Secret Intelligence...
and Smiley's People
Smiley's People
Smiley's People is a spy novel by John le Carré, published in 1979. Featuring British master-spy George Smiley, it is the third and final novel of the "Karla Trilogy", following Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy and The Honourable Schoolboy...
. The newest novel that uses these rules is by Daniel Silva, entitled 'Moscow Rules'. In these works, the rules are not general precepts, but methods of tradecraft
Tradecraft
Tradecraft is a general term that denotes a skill acquired through experience in a trade.The term is also used within the intelligence community as a collective word for the techniques used in modern espionage...
, such as using chalk marks and thumbtacks as signals, the use of dead drop
Dead drop
A dead drop or dead letter box is a method of espionage tradecraft used to pass items between two individuals by using a secret location and thus does not require them to meet directly. Using a dead drop permits a Case Officer and his Agent to exchange objects and information while maintaining...
s, and the ways to signal the need for a (rare) face-to-face meeting. Moscow Rules are important at the beginning of Smiley's People, where the General invokes the rules to request a meeting with Smiley, but he is followed and killed by 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...
assassins before it can happen. The applicable rule states that no documents may be carried that cannot be instantly discarded, in this instance a 35mm negative concealed in an empty pack of cigarettes.
In 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...
's 1959 novel Goldfinger, Auric Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger
Auric Goldfinger is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond film and novel Goldfinger. His first name, Auric, is an adjective meaning of gold...
mentions this last rule to James Bond in Goldfinger's warehouse in Geneva.