Stasi Shield and Sword of the Party

Finally, a concise, readable history of the Stasi. John Schmeidel has done a wonderful job. Western intelligence agencies agreed that the Stasi was the most efficient and successful of the former communist intelligence services. The number of damaging  East German spies uncovered  after the fall of the Wall confirmed this.

Why should one care today? Not only because the Stasi  once trained radical Latin American, Asian, Middle Eastern and African intelligence organizations still active in 2007. Since 1990, former Stasi officers have gone into business as "security consultants" around the world to governments, private industry, organized crime and terror groups. Stasi skill has improved the lethality of modern terrorism.

Richard Palmer, CEO of Cachet International, twenty year CIA operations veteran and former Chief of Station in Europe.