THE ARES PENDULUM: AN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE
THE ARES PENDULUM: AN ETHICAL PERSPECTIVE

Summary/Abstract: The expansion observed, in the last half-century, in the theorisation of intelligence activity has magnetically attracted the need for an ethical topography of intelligence services’ behaviour and states. Drawing on the fundamental concepts and theories of this discipline, the article applies a complex evaluation grid to a recent case, subsumed within a less popularized operation in the history of the intelligence service of communist Romania.By accumulating evidence from open sources, books, studies and corroborating all available records in declassified archives, the paper presumes that the investigations and measures undertaken by the State Security Department (Securitate) in the sphere of the cinematographic environment are suitable for an analysis from an ethical angle.Attempting to answer some fundamental ethical questions, the article includes a brief presentation of the main theories in the field of intelligence ethics, followed by a historical illustration of the main milestones in the issues addressed, during Ceauşescu’s rule (1965-1989). Then, the combination of the two results in the ethical judgement, which is the fundamental subject of the article.The ethical perspective is enriched by the author’s proposal of a theoretical model for evaluating and deciphering the case under inspection. The model has an adjuvant role and does not imply its dissociation from the pre-existing theoretical foundation. Its purpose is to contextualise the ethical interpretation and create a scale applicable to the subjects and facts examined.

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