About the Book: The Ultimate Goal
In The Ultimate Goal, Vikram Sood, former chief of Indias external intelligence
agency, the Research and Analysis Wing (RandAW), explains the narrative and how
a countrys ability to construct, sustain and control narratives, at home and
abroad, enhances its strength and position. Intelligence agencies invariably
play a critical role in this, an often-indispensable tool of statecraft. A
narrative may not necessarily be based on truth, but it does need to be
plausible, have a meaning and create a desired perception. During most of the
twentieth century, intelligence agencies helped shape narratives favourable to
their countries agendas through literature, history, drama, art,