“Every major power, and increasingly, minor powers gather intelligence on their allies as well as their adversaries. The role of embassies and consulates is to provide a "boots on the ground" presence for such "spying," and the use of sophisticated methods and procedures to track and evaluate allies and adversaries movements is a rational response to increasingly complex and dynamic movements within the global socio-economic environment. I believe it was the scholar Hans Morgenthau who first opined in a Post-WWII world, that no nation can afford to be open handedly democratic on the world stage. That every nation must operate in its own self-interest first.”