The good, the bad, and the tradecraft: HUMINT and the ethics of psychological manipulation

Psychological manipulation is a type of social influence that naturally occurs as a part of social interactions. While commonly regarded as immoral and harmful, manipulation is influence that is different from coercion and rational persuasion. Acts of manipulation can sometimes be beneficial and lead to positive outcomes, which renders the concept ethically ambiguous, especially when viewed in relation to fields like human intelligence (HUMINT). This essay will focus on manipulative influence in the HUMINT context, flesh out its characteristics and relate it to ethical principles in order to explore the difference between legitimate (harmless) and illegitimate (harmful) forms of manipulation.