The rights of foreign intelligence targets

Liberal states are dedicated to the protection of human rights but protecting the rights of their citizens may entail infringing upon or violating the rights of foreign citizens. This is what some call the liberal dilemma of intelligence collection (Omand and Phythian 2018; Gendron 2005, 418). The same is true for military operations, but in many cases, wars are avoidable, at least in principle, through deterrence and diplomatic actions. Yet intelligence gathering, by its very nature, must be ongoing, in part to forestall wars. If a state can build weapons of war with a reasonable hope that they will not be used and train military personnel with a reasonable hope they will not be deployed, the same is not true for intelligence-gathering equipment and personnel. 1