Fair Play

The Moral Dilemmas of Spying

By: James M. Olson

Narrated by: Joel Richards

Revolutionary War officer Nathan Hale, one of America's first spies, said, "Any kind of service necessary to the public good becomes honorable by being necessary." A statue of Hale stands outside CIA headquarters, and the agency often cites his statement as one of its guiding principles. But who decides what is necessary for the public good, and is it really true that any kind of service is permissible for the public good?

These questions are at the heart of James M. Olson's book, Fair Play: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying. Olson, a veteran of the CIA's clandestine service, takes listeners inside the real world of intelligence to describe the difficult dilemmas that field officers face on an almost daily basis. Far from being a dry theoretical treatise, this fascinating book uses actual intelligence operations to illustrate how murky their moral choices can be. Listeners will be surprised to learn that the CIA provides very little guidance on what is, or is not, permissible.

Rather than empowering field officers, the author has found that this lack of guidelines actually hampers operations. Olson believes that US intelligence officers need clearer moral guidelines to make correct, quick decisions.

©2006 Potomac Books, Inc. (P)2018 Tantor

A well researched and worth a listen

This is an interesting book that makes you think. It presents various ethical scenarios and gives multiple perspectives to the issues at hand. In some situations I found I was persuaded by the arguments presented. Production solid. Overall definitely worth a credit.

Makes you think

The scenarios in this book were very interesting. They often put you in a difficult situation and makes you second guess what the right decision would be. Very fun book to listen to

Great scenarios to get you thinking

A brilliant approach to tackling scenarios that can be faced. An interesting way to see how your own thoughts and perspectives align with others having diverse backgrounds and experiences.

A really thought provoking book that everyone should partake in.

The ethics questions posed in each chapter were very unique in making one think for oneself, and also hearing different viewpoints and true scenarios. This book really made me think and evaluate my own ethics and principles.

not that I thought it would be

not what I expected. it just 4 hours of hypothetical questions. doesn't get very in depth of anything.

overall best description boring

I didn't realize just how boring this book would be. made it through but quite boring.

Big promise, delivered little

The premise of the book was intriguing to me. What standards should those engaged in the international spy game follow?

The first part of the book looked for a short while at some of the key ethical issues that those in the game face. However, Olson doesn't really propose any objective standards. He basically shrugs and says "Yeah, it's tough to figure out." What guidance is he actually providing? What is he proposing, other than that spies generally behave in some kind of ethical manner - whatever that is?

The rest of the book, the majority, is more of the same. It poses a question, and tells you what all kinds of people, + the Federal government, think about it. But that's it. No clues as to what the right decision should be.

This book is interesting and thought-provoking. But that's because of the scenarios it presents, not because of any wisdom it details in resolving them.

In all fairness, probably only a handful of people could write this book in a way that provided concrete guidance to those in the business. Olson seems like a decent person. Decent may not have been good enough in this case.