Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks

Sean M. Wiswesser has nearly thirty years of experience working as a national security professional with intelligence, foreign service, and defense organizations. As a senior operations officer with the CIA, he served on multiple overseas tours and many other deployments on temporary duty, including war-zone service. He was a chief of station and had multiple joint-duty assignments with intelligence community partners. Sean was a Morehead Scholar at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with a bachelor's degree in history and Russian & Slavic linguistics. He was awarded a Master of Strategic Studies in 2023 from the Air War College and received the Russia Integrated Deterrence Award.

"Wiswesser has produced a remarkably readable and accessible book on a subject that is often dense, technical, and difficult to understand...not only an exhaustive examination of how Russia's intelligence services operate, but also a compelling explanation of the pivotal role those organizations play in Vladimir Putin's Russia.The result is a book that will appeal equally to national security professionals, students, and general readers interested in international affairs. At a time when foreign interference, information warfare, and covert influence campaigns remain pressing concerns, this is a book every citizen interested in understanding the challenges facing modern democracies should read. It provides important context for how Russian intelligence services think, operate, and pursue strategic objectives around the world."—M.P. Woodward NYT Best Selling author of Red Tide: A Novel of the Next Pacific War and the Tom Clancy Jack Ryan series"The crisp 200-page result is engagingly written, with a dose of modesty unusual in a profession notorious for its boastfulness."—Foreign Policy“Highly informative, not only for the details it offers, but also for its thorough citation of additional open-source references on cases and methods for readers to consult.”—The Washington Free Beacon"Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks is a fascinating story of Russian spycraft that details the double agents, honey traps, and murders that have marked Soviet and now Russian foreign policy for decades. Sean Wiswesser spent his CIA career studying, teaching, and confronting Russian spies all over the globe; in his book on Russian intelligence, he spills the beans on what Russian spies did and do, to challenge freedom and the West. Hard to put down, and harder to forget when falling asleep at night."—John Nagl, author of Learning to Eat Soup with a Knife: Counterinsurgency Lessons from Malaya and Vietnam"Sean Wiswesser has written the rare book that pairs rigorous tradecraft insight with lived experience. Drawing on decades countering Russia’s services, he maps how espionage, disinformation, and corruption actually work, and how to blunt them. The Ukraine case study is especially clarifying, but it’s the human stories that stay with you. Essential reading for practitioners, policymakers, and citizens alike who want to understand (and perhaps resist) Putin’s secret war."—Jennifer Ewbank, former Deputy Director of CIA for Digital Innovation"Sean Wiswesser’s personal reminiscences about encounters with Russian officers add authenticity to his narrative that is rare in books about Russian intelligence. His career as an operations officer lays a credible foundation for his interpretation and critique of Russian operations. Sean’s experiences allow him to give personal tribute to several Soviet and Russian defectors with whom he worked, introducing readers to otherwise unknown people who supported U.S. intelligence in the 1990s and 2000s."—Kevin Riehle, Lecturer in Intelligence and International Security, Brunel University London"Sean Wiswesser lifts the lid on the inner workings of the Russian security services. This is not a detached, scholarly account, but a plain-spoken, deeply authoritative, and often humorous exposé of an implacable foe by an experienced officer possessing a rare combination of Russia-oriented tradecraft, language, and cultural skills. Readers will be rewarded with a deeper understanding of the dangers and weaknesses of these organizations, so reflective of the tragic paradox of Russia itself."—Gregory Sims, former CIA Station Chief “This is an excellent book about the Russian Intelligence Services and the threat they pose to the West. It is informative, approachable and compelling, containing many illustrative examples from the author’s career. Written by a true expert, it should be mandatory reading for everyone in the U.S. Intelligence Community. Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks will be useful to experts but it is written with a style and clarity that recommend it to the interested citizen.”—Rob Dannenberg, former CIA Central Eurasia Division Chief and Chief of Russian Operations“If you don’t understand the Russian intelligence and security services, you simply can’t understand Russia. In Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks, Russian intelligence and Putin’s Secret War Sean Wiswesser richly and perceptively illustrates the root cause of Russian aggression, oppression, and destruction in the 21st Century – the unchanging nature and powerful influence of the modern Russian heirs of the Soviet KGB. Filled with authoritative and compelling detail, welcome clarity, and insightful nuance, Wiswesser’s book is required reading for any policymaker, intelligence officer, academic, or businessman dealing with Russian issues.”—Paul Kolbe, former Chief CIA Central Eurasia Division, Senior Fellow at Harvard Belfer Center Intelligence Project “Wiswesser’s book will surely become an essential resource for national security professionals, students of the Russian government, and citizens interested in international affairs. Perhaps more importantly, it may serve as a primer for future FBI and intelligence officials.”—SpyTalk"Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks: Russian Intelligence and Putin’s Secret War is well written, informative, and entertaining to read. It should be on the professional reading list of defense leaders, Russia specialists, enthusiasts, and those considering a career in the IC. It would also be an excellent addition to undergraduate and graduate school syllabi for courses on intelligence or Russian history."—Parameters"Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks is an excellent addition to the compendium of works on the RIS (Russian Intelligence Services). By coupling his personal and professional experiences with the history and evolution of Putin and the rise of the RIS since 1991, Wiswesser’s book is both insightful and entertaining. His bibliographical citings of other relevant studies and books throughout will be beneficial to those interested in a deeper dive into many of his chapter topics...Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks is a welcome and highly recommended study for those in the intelligence and/or foreign policy business, or the general reader interested in understanding how Putin and the RIS play the game in this most recent reiteration of spy vs spy.”—Cipher Brief“Spy story enthusiasts will be enthralled with the level of analysis and the tradecraft terminology. There may well be some covert professional agents who could learn from this CIA master agent. In any event Tradecraft, Tactics, and Dirty Tricks is a fascinating true-life dive into the West’s favourite ‘bête noire’.”—Australian Naval Institute