I am impressed again at the academic training a good Chekistiy can get. The difference between Russian and American Intelligence officers wasn’t in the basic level of education or competence they had. The Russians were probably ahead on that but the Americans had a broader undergraduate background. Partly this is because American undergraduate education is less specialized that that in other countries inluding that in America’s European allies. Both US and Soviet agents were carefully selected after a long vetting program and were historically associated with the leading elements of their societies. The difference was that American Intelligence officers while hitorically patriotic were also more liberal than the general society that produced them. This goes back to the OSS or even earlier. The recently released list of WW-II OSS members includes a Who’s Who of the post war Democratic establishment and liberal elite. Ever since Vietnam the seperation between the Best and the Brightest and the more conservative society that supports them has become more pronounced. Our CIA has degenerated to an extent as it has fallen into domestic politics and the corruption of bureaucratic politics. The heirs of Felix Dzerzhinsky may still see themselves as a priesthood.