Foreign Intelligence Service
- proper noun
:
Servicio de Inteligencia Exterior
- Moreover, it suggested the Stasi might have become interested in Segal's claims not so much to disinform as to protect—in this instance, to protect the GDR by "protecting" its scientists and their research from foreign intelligence services.
Examples
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Experts claim that the Foreign Intelligence Service has been monitoring foreign communications for years.
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The Foreign Intelligence Service was involved in operations to gain insights into geopolitical developments.
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The Foreign Intelligence Service played a key role in Russia's strategy to gather information on international threats.
Synonyms
5
9.7
A Russian agency that gathers secret information about other countries
A Russian service that collects secret information abroad for the government
Surface Forms
Morphology
foreign + intelligence + service
The meaning is fully compositional: 'foreign' (abroad), 'intelligence' (secret information/gathering) and 'service' (an organization) combine to denote an organization that collects and analyzes intelligence abroad. While the phrase can refer to a specific Russian agency, the core sense is directly derivable from its parts and is cross-linguistically predictable for learners who know the constituents.
Etymology
Foreign Intelligence Service comes from the English name for the Russian agency that followed the KGB's foreign spy branch after the Soviet Union ended. The words Foreign, Intelligence, and Service give a clear picture: a government 'service' that gathers secret 'information' abroad, so the name means the agency that collects intelligence outside the country.