MICE and human longing: why people betray their country, according to insiders
Former CIA disguise chief Jonna Mendez and historian Rick Spence both explain betrayal with the MICE model, and former covert officer Andrew Bustamante describes recruitment through personality and human longing. Their accounts show espionage running on ordinary human motives, which is useful for anyone trying to understand how people are talked into acting against their own side.
What does MICE stand for? Show answer
Money, ideology, compromise (Mendez) or coercion (Spence), and ego. These are the four motives for betraying one's country.
Which MICE motive do Mendez and Spence both rank highest? Show answer
Ego. Typical triggers include being passed over for promotion or holding a grudge against a boss.
How effective did Mendez find compromise? Show answer
She said it rarely worked well.
What coercion method does Spence attribute to the Tsarist Okhrana? Show answer
Arrest a group of revolutionaries, release one, and threaten to spread the rumor that he is an informer unless he actually becomes one.
Why does Spence suspect ego, not ideology, drove Kim Philby? Show answer
Philby himself said one never looks twice at an offer of service in an elite force. Spence says that if he had to guess, he'd pick ego.
How did Mendez's colleagues keep recruited foreign agents going? Show answer
They lessened the agents' fear, built belief in the agency's competence, and praised and encouraged them to do more.
What does Bustamante call his most surprising lesson about human nature? Show answer
That everyone carries a painful longing to be with others. Loneliness hurts and togetherness feels good.
What question does Bustamante say protects against flattery? Show answer
Is this true, or do I just want it to be?
What do polygraphs actually detect, according to Bustamante? Show answer
Variance from a person's physiological baseline, which points interviewers toward sensitive topics. They don't detect lies themselves.
Why does the CIA train officers not to use sexpionage, according to Bustamante? Show answer
Because it complicates cases. He adds that China and Russia use it well.
What does Spence call the primary reason people join secret groups? Show answer
The desire in the human heart to belong.