The key role of intelligence in the coronavirus battle

In order to get their hands on confidential research into a novel coronavirus vaccination, his operatives would have tried to recruit Russian diplomats, Iranian army officers and Chinese doctors, by going to hockey games in Moscow, diplomatic dinners in Tehran and medical conferences in Beijing. If he hadn't retired last July, Marc Polymeropoulos' job would have been to bring the information gathered together in a highly confidential report, ultimately addressed to the president of the United States of America.

After having spent 26 years in the service of the Central Intelligence Agency, the 50-year-old Greek American decided to retire from the field. He spoke to Kathimerini recently, from lockdown in his home in the US state of Virginia.

"The first matter of business for the secret service in the pandemic is not looking for ventilators or diagnostic tests, as Israel...