--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The Russian spy agency had been ordered…" description: "\"“The Russian spy agency had been ordered to make a bold move, hack the American elections, and engage in political warfare to elect Donald Trump Presid..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg" --- # The Russian spy agency had been ordered to make a bold… ![“The Russian spy agency had been ordered to make a bold move, hack the American elections, and engage in political warfare to elect Donald Trump President. Whether he knew it or not, Trump was the perfect candidate for a political asset. Former KGB officer Yuri Bezmenov said the KGB targeted…” quote by Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg) > ““The Russian spy agency had been ordered to make a bold move, hack the American elections, and engage in political warfare to elect Donald Trump President. Whether he knew it or not, Trump was the perfect candidate for a political asset. Former KGB officer Yuri Bezmenov said the KGB targeted “Ego-centric people who lack moral principles—who are either too greedy or who suffer from exaggerated self-importance. These are the people the KGB wants and finds easiest to recruit.”” [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The KGB targeted morally weak, ego‑centric individuals as easy recruits for political manipulation. **In simple terms:** KGB sought self‑absorbed, unethical people to manipulate politics. Key Takeaway Guard against ego‑driven susceptibility. Themes psychology information warfare ethics Mood cautious analytical Type educational inspirational When to use this quote - social media usage - political campaigning - education curricula - media literacy training Key Concepts political science behavioral economics national security Questions to Reflect On - How can societies reduce ego‑centric vulnerabilities? - What education can build moral resilience? A Different Perspective Not all individuals fit this profile; other recruitment methods exist. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Russia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia/) ## Related quotes > [“former KGB officer with a confident walk and shy smile, a tough administrator of disarming simplicity, a market-oriented reformer willing to increase state control…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helena-goscilo/former-kgb-officer-with-a-confident-walk-and-shy-smile-a-tough/) Helena Goscilo > [I've never been to the Soviet Union and the main reason for that is I was warned several times by people from the KGB…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-crozier/i-ve-never-been-to-the-soviet-union-and-the-main-reason-for-that-is-i/) Brian Crozier > [The KGB still killed people, the KGB would not execute its last prisoner until the final days of its existence in 1991, but by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-clancy/the-kgb-still-killed-people-the-kgb-would-not-execute-its-last/) [Tom Clancy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-clancy/) > [ Around the corner \[ of the Carnegie Delicatessen\] is the Russian Tea Room, which is now out of business. Which is awful. I remember… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-laffoley/around-the-corner-of-the-carnegie-delicatessen-is-the-russian-tea/) [Paul Laffoley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-laffoley/) > [I was not extremely patriotic about Mother Russia. I played their game, pretending. You have to deal with, you know, party people, KGB. Horrifying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mikhail-baryshnikov/i-was-not-extremely-patriotic-about-mother-russia-i-played-their-game/) [Mikhail Baryshnikov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mikhail-baryshnikov/) ## More by Malcolm Nance > [Russia's a small country. It's really poor. It has nothing other than oil and weapons sales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/russia-s-a-small-country-it-s-really-poor-it-has-nothing-other-than/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [The Republicans want an autocracy where the rights of minorities and others are not protected.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/the-republicans-want-an-autocracy-where-the-rights-of-minorities-and/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [I started my career in Naval Intelligence when I entered as a Russian language interpreter sent to DLI, the Defense Language Institute.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/i-started-my-career-in-naval-intelligence-when-i-entered-as-a-russian/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [I have personally led, witnessed, and supervised waterboarding of hundreds of people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/i-have-personally-led-witnessed-and-supervised-waterboarding-of/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [“However, despite the enormous digital territory and huge number of Internet users, only a few users of what is called the “Surface Web” are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/however-despite-the-enormous-digital-territory-and-huge-number-of/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [Working in the Middle East, daily I face the questions, disbelief, and accusations about how Americans could violate the human rights which they once…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/working-in-the-middle-east-daily-i-face-the-questions-disbelief-and/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [Vladimir Putin is creating an axis of authoritarian regimes that he will lead.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/vladimir-putin-is-creating-an-axis-of-authoritarian-regimes-that-he/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [The 2003 war in Iraq may be considered the greatest error in American policy since the Civil War. Its ramifications are earth-shattering and will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/the-2003-war-in-iraq-may-be-considered-the-greatest-error-in-american/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [Hamas and Hezbollah operate within geopolitical norms. They can be negotiated and reasoned with. ISIL is a different animal altogether - a religious cult…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/hamas-and-hezbollah-operate-within-geopolitical-norms-they-can-be/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [To help students steel themselves for captivity, SERE used a variety of 'stress and duress' techniques. The military's encyclopedic knowledge of these techniques was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/to-help-students-steel-themselves-for-captivity-sere-used-a-variety/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [Yes, ISIL is a terror-based insurgent army that seeks to establish a Caliphate, but the group's actual end goal is far from political: ISIL…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/yes-isil-is-a-terror-based-insurgent-army-that-seeks-to-establish-a/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [For an old spy and codebreaker like myself, nothing in the world happens by coincidence.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/for-an-old-spy-and-codebreaker-like-myself-nothing-in-the-world/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [Al Qaeda is a racially diverse organization that is well aware of its dependence on a labor pool dominated by Arab Muslim men. It…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/al-qaeda-is-a-racially-diverse-organization-that-is-well-aware-of-its/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [Vladimir Putin understood, from the Communist era when he was a KGB officer, that the Russian propaganda system of targeting Western media - that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/vladimir-putin-understood-from-the-communist-era-when-he-was-a-kgb/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [For years before my Navy enlistment, I had studied the Soviet Union and the KGB's history of political intrigue in preparation for a career…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/for-years-before-my-navy-enlistment-i-had-studied-the-soviet-union/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) [Explore all 49 Malcolm Nance quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) ## More Russia quotes > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [The CIA has concluded in a secret assessment that Russia intervened in the 2016 election to help Donald Trump win the presidency rather than…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rachel-maddow/the-cia-has-concluded-in-a-secret-assessment-that-russia-intervened/) [Rachel Maddow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rachel-maddow/) > [One of the things the United States does well is building coalitions. What the U.S. knows is that if you don't have a coalition…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shimon-peres/one-of-the-things-the-united-states-does-well-is-building-coalitions/) [Shimon Peres](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shimon-peres/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [Believe me, most of the people in Russia are seeing the West as a threat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-simonyan/believe-me-most-of-the-people-in-russia-are-seeing-the-west-as-a/) [Margarita Simonyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-simonyan/) > [The late 1990s were really a moment of still tremendous hope and optimism about the relationship between Russia and the United States.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/antony-blinken/the-late-1990s-were-really-a-moment-of-still-tremendous-hope-and/) [Antony Blinken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/antony-blinken/) > [Russia and the USA are two largest nuclear powers in the world; it's a really important relationship. How do we start making this work?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rex-w-tillerson/russia-and-the-usa-are-two-largest-nuclear-powers-in-the-world-it-s-a/) [Rex W. Tillerson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rex-w-tillerson/) > [At minimum, we must recognize that there are legitimate, unanswered questions about whether the Obama Justice Department involved themselves in a political project targeting…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-meadows/at-minimum-we-must-recognize-that-there-are-legitimate-unanswered/) [Mark Meadows](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-meadows/) > [I love India, Russia and touring has made me many friends abroad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/will-i-am/i-love-india-russia-and-touring-has-made-me-many-friends-abroad/) [will.i.am](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/will-i-am/) > [When I was a sophomore at USC, I was a socialist, pretty much to the left. But not when I left the university. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-wayne/when-i-was-a-sophomore-at-usc-i-was-a-socialist-pretty-much-to-the/) [John Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-wayne/) > [America is stronger than Russia. Our economy is 16 times larger than the Russian economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mike-pence/america-is-stronger-than-russia-our-economy-is-16-times-larger-than/) [Mike Pence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mike-pence/) > [Not too many people out there are interested in Russia so much that they really want to watch things about Russia and only about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margarita-simonyan/not-too-many-people-out-there-are-interested-in-russia-so-much-that/) [Margarita Simonyan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margarita-simonyan/) > [Russia's a small country. It's really poor. It has nothing other than oil and weapons sales.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/russia-s-a-small-country-it-s-really-poor-it-has-nothing-other-than/) [Malcolm Nance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/) > [The only thing which is important to do is to tell about the values I share. It's to say how important liberalization of Russia…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ksenia-sobchak/the-only-thing-which-is-important-to-do-is-to-tell-about-the-values-i/) [Ksenia Sobchak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ksenia-sobchak/) > [Italy has sun and tomatoes, and Russia just has real problems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-shteyngart/italy-has-sun-and-tomatoes-and-russia-just-has-real-problems/) [Gary Shteyngart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-shteyngart/) [Browse all 3,628 Russia quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/russia/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“The Russian spy agency had been ordered to make a bold move, hack the American elections, and engage in political warfare to elect Donald Trump President. Whether he knew it or not, Trump was the perfect candidate for a political asset. Former KGB officer Yuri Bezmenov said the KGB targeted “Ego-centric people who lack moral principles—who are either too greedy or who suffer from exaggerated self-importance. These are the people the KGB wants and finds easiest to recruit.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Malcolm Nance" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered-to-make-a-bold-move-hack-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Russia" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered-to-make-a-bold-move-hack-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/070/malcolm-nance-13693_quote_the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered_1441472.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The Russian spy agency had been ordered to make a bold move, hack the American elections, and engage in…” — Malcolm Nance", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Malcolm Nance", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-nance/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“The Russian spy agency had been...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered-to-make-a-bold-move-hack-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-nance/the-russian-spy-agency-had-been-ordered-to-make-a-bold-move-hack-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```