# #102 Rory Cormac: Coups, Assassinations and Covert Wars Are Back - And the Rules Have Changed

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/decoding-geopolitics-podcast-with-dominik-presl-6862131/102-rory-cormac-coups-assassinations-and-covert-wars-are-back-and-the-rules-have-changed
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/decoding-geopolitics-podcast-with-dominik-presl-6862131/102-rory-cormac-coups-assassinations-and-covert-wars-are-back-and-the-rules-have-changed.md
Podcast: [Decoding Geopolitics Podcast with Dominik Presl](https://stenobird.com/podcast/decoding-geopolitics-podcast-with-dominik-presl-6862131)
Published: 2026-01-17T09:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/dominik-presl/episodes/102-Rory-Cormac-Coups--Assassinations-and-Covert-Wars-Are-Back---And-the-Rules-Have-Changed-e3do2uq
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/APO4444011412.mp3
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Duration seconds: 2460

## Resource

➡️ Watch the full interview ad-free, join a community of geopolitics enthusiasts and gain access to exclusive content on PATREON: https://www.patreon.com/DecodingGeopolitics ➡️ Sign up to my free geopolitics newsletter: https://stationzero.substack.com/ This is a conversation with Rory Cormac, a professor at the University of Nottingham who’s professional is on a very particular subject - how states engage in and deploy “covert action” - subversive actions against their opponents carried out in secrecy with that the state itself denying its own involvement. Or in other words, the shadiest stuff that spies from nations all around the world do - from overthrowing foreign governments, arming proxy groups and carrying out sabotage and assassinations. If you are interested in geopolitics, this probably naturally comes as a fascinating subject - and so we talk about how various nations approach and engage in this area - from the U.S. effort to overthrow Maduro’s regime in Venezuela and its rich history of overthrowing foreign regimes, Russian wave of covert action in Europe and what European countries like the UK and France covertly do or not do themselves, how does China approach this and why does it seem to stay under the radar - or why if covert action is meant to be secret, we seem to read about all the time in mainstream news - and much more.

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## Transcript

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