CIA Director Bill Burns and head of the British MI6 service Richard Moore warned in a Financial Times op-ed that the world order is under threat, primarily due to Russia, China, North Korea, and the Middle East.
The connections between US and UK intelligence services go back to the founding of SIS in 1909. The leaders stated that the partnership will be vital as they face an unprecedented array of threats, mainly from Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran.
We have no more trusted or esteemed allies. But the challenges of the past are being accelerated in the present, and compounded by technological change. Today, we co-operate in a contested international system where our two countries face an unprecedented array of threats, they said.
They noted the growing influence of China:
The rise of China is the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century, and we have reorganised our services to reflect that priority. Meanwhile, counterterrorism remains at the core of our partnership, and we work closely with others to protect our homelands and thwart the resurgent threat of Isis.
They also explained how they are now using advanced artificial intelligence technologies and cloud technologies to process the vast amounts of data they collect.
We are now using AI, including generative AI, to enable and improve intelligence activities — from summarisation to ideation to helping identify key information in a sea of data. We are training AI to help protect and “red team” our own operations to ensure we can still stay secret when we need to. We are using cloud technologies so our brilliant data scientists can make the most of our data, and we are partnering with the most innovative companies in the US, UK and around the world.
The joint article comes just days before the visit of UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer to Washington on 13 September, where he will held a meeting with US President Joe Biden. The White House stated that they will discuss, among other things, the continuation of active support for Ukraine and the desire to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.
