Conoce a tu enemigo: Estrategia del servicio de inteligencia

KNOW YOUR ENEMY
THE INTELLIGENCE STRATEGY

The target of your strategies should be less the army
you face than the mind of the man or woman who
runs it. If you understand how that mind works, you
have the key to deceiving and controlling it. Train
yourself to read people, picking up the signals they
unconsciously send about their innermost thoughts
and intentions. A friendly front will let you watch them
closely and mine them for information. Beware of
projecting your own emotions and mental habits
onto them; try to think as they think. By finding your
opponents' psychological weaknesses, you can work
to unhinge their minds.
Robert Greene


He who knows the enemy and himself Will
never in a hundred battles be at risk.
SUN-TZU, FOURTH CENTURY B.C.


[As to the second case] , that of being drawn into
one [a trap or ambush] ...you must be shrewd
about not believing easily things not in accord
with reason. For example, if the enemy puts
some booty before you, you ought to believe
that within it there is a hook and that it conceals
some trick. If many of the enemy are put to flight
by your few, if a few of the enemy assail your
many, if the enemy turn in sudden flight,...you
ought to fear a trick. And you should never
believe that the enemy does not know how to
carry on his affairs; rather, if you hope to be less
deceived...and...run less risk, in proportion as
your enemy is weaker, in proportion as he is
less cautious, you should the more respect him.
THE ART OF WAR, NICCOLO MACHIAVELLI,

1521