The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the United States federal government, tasked with gathering, processing, and analyzing national security information from around the world, primarily through the use of human intelligence (HUMINT). As one of the principal members of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), the CIA reports to the Director of National Intelligence and is primarily focused on providing intelligence for the President and Cabinet. [1]
CIA in literature
The Central Intelligence Agency is first introduced in Red Sparrow. Often referred to as CIA, the agency is also known as the "Farm". The agency has an important role in the trilogy and it is connected to several characters such as the intelligence officer and protagonist Nate Nash.
The CIA has many stations around the world. Nate worked in the Moscow Station until he was reassigned to the Helsinki Station and later to the Athens Station, runned by Chief Tom Forsyth and Deputy Chief Marty Gable. It is also known that CIA is active in South America; In Palace of Treason it is mentioned how poorly the South American Division was managed by Nate's former chief Gordon Gondorf.
The agency works together with other organizations when necessary. For instance in Red Sparrow, in order to arest mole Stephanie Boucher inside of the US, CIA has to work together with the FBI. In Palace of Treason, the Athens Station works with MI6 to use United Kingdom's satellites.
Divisions
Some of the divisions mentioned in the Red Sparrow books.
- Counterintelligence Division
- Russia/Eurasia Division
- Europe Division
- South American Division
- Africa Division
Personnel
| Division / Station | Location | Personnel |
|---|---|---|
| Counterintelligence Division | Langley (US) |
|
| Russia/Eurasia Division | Langley (US) |
|
| Athens Station | Athens (Greece) |
|
| Helsinki Station | Helsinki (Finland) |
|
| Moscow Station | Moscow (Russia) |
|
*(Chief of Station)
CIA in film
Nash, Forsyth and Marty Gable at the Budapest Station as it appears in the movie.
Since the Red Sparrow film was set in Budapest, the Helsinki Station, as well as other locations from the novels were adapted to be set in Hungary instead. The character Tom Forsyth (chief of station) was also adapted as the female character Trish Forsyth. The tragic arrest of Senator Stephanie Boucher was also set in Budapest.