Clandestine Influence: A Threat to Corporate Governance, Planet Governance, and Planet Preservation?

The Future of Planet Earth in 2024 and Beyond

The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best? - Thomas Sowell

As we enter 2024 with some trepidation, Planet Earth appears to be facing an increasing number of existential threats on so many different levels. Examples of these accelerating and constantly mutating dangers relate to environmental issues (climate and ecosystems), social issues (wealth inequality and mass immigration), economic issues (recession and depression), political issues (lack of trust and corruption), cyber issues (AI and the singularity), health issues (healthcare and pandemics) and military issues (nuclear threat and World War III).

Clearly human life on our planet is in some turmoil and our fate seems under threat, however our destiny may not yet be sealed. The health of the planet that this generation finally passes on to future generations is still subject to a variety of possible outcomes. Each of these scenarios also have different probabilities and confidence levels associated with them. This generation still has a variety of different options available to choose from, however certain difficult decisions will be required if we are indeed to avoid the worse case scenarios.

So, what does the future hold for the citizens of Planet Earth and who among us will get to make these crucial decisions?

Stakeholder Influence

The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts. - Bertrand Russell

Stakeholder value can take many different forms (i.e. financial, manufactured, intellectual, human, social & relationship, and natural) which can result in a wide variety of stakeholder interests. Given the diversity of stakeholder interests it is quite natural for stakeholder groups to attempt to influence any options, choices, and decisions in favour of their own vested interests while using all means at their disposal. Such stakeholder influence can be expected to apply to all decisions being made involving human beings be it at global, international, regional, national, or local levels.

Stakeholder Interests

Stakeholder interests typically reflect the values, morals, attitudes, and motivations of the members of the stakeholder group in question and different stakeholder groups will have different priorities. As decisions regarding the future of Planet Earth will impact on multiple stakeholder groups (i.e. governments, civil society, private sector, scientific community, and others) consensus can be difficult to achieve. Ensuring that the interests of all stakeholder groups are represented in the decision-making process is an extremely complex and multifaceted challenge given the diversity of thought.

Stakeholder groups may disagree on many different matters given that human beings tend to discriminate based on a variety of different criteria (i.e. health, ability, wealth, age, gender, colour, race, ethnicity, appearance, weight, height, genetics, marital status, sexual orientation, language, education, intelligence, beliefs, politics, religion, occupation, social class, nationality, location, etc). Such diversity of ideas quite naturally can lead to various conflicts of interests among these different stakeholder groups.

Stakeholder Lobbying

Naturally key stakeholder groups will try to exert their influence to ensure that their own particular interests are prioritized in the decision-making process. Typically, this can involve representatives or lobbyists attempting to influence the decision-making process on behalf of the individual stakeholder group. Lobbyists can take many forms including PR firms, Lobby Groups, PACs (and Super PACs), Think-Tanks, and various other advocacy groups.

Various forms of lobbying can occur, including attempting to influence individuals within the decision-making process of global bodies, international and multi-national organizations, regional groups, national governments, and local entities. The corporate world is no stranger to lobbying to promote a particular agenda and to help protect the corporation’s own vested interests. Indeed, big business (e.g. big oil, big pharma, and big tech etc), the military complex (i.e. arms and defense industry), and the security & intelligence communities all have deep pockets and are frequently accused of unfairly influencing decisions made at the very highest levels. Such lobbying can of course result in serious conflicts of interest involving those in the decision-making process and therefore a clear degree of transparency is required in order to help ensure that all decisions are arrived at in a fair and equitable manner. For example, the lack of transparency around a government's defense budget, its military spending, and its relationship with the arms industry can often lead to allegations of perceived or imagined impropriety.??

Stakeholder Oversight

To help ensure that the required level of transparency is present there is a requirement for adequate stewardship of decision-making processes. This should include effective oversight (and regulation) of the process and ideally this oversight should be independent, impartial, and objective in nature. Oversight groups can include regulators, supervisory bodies, and other forms of watchdogs. Sufficient transparency is also required to help ensure that any (and all) conflicts of interest are identified, assessed, and addressed in an appropriate manner. Such transparency demands complete disclosure and a full declaration of interests by all those involved in the decision-making process.

To help ensure transparency there needs to be an appropriate governance system in place within the entities concerned. This means checks and balances, including robust scrutiny of the nomination and/or appointments process and adequate supervision of those appointed in relation to their behaviour and expected standards-in-office. Clear guidance should be given in the form of policies, principles, rules, codes of conduct, and other protocols. Compliance with and adherence to such standards should be continuously monitored and relevant sanctions and penalties for violations and breaches should be consistently enforced so that the system can be considered fit for purpose. For example, the perceived difference of the enforcement and resulting prosecutions (and sentencing) between white collar and blue collar crimes in some jurisdictions may sometimes give rise to a sense of unfairness within the blue collar community. ??

Transparency is considered by many experts to be one of the cornerstones of effective governance, as without transparency, conflicts of interest may not be identified, and decisions may not be made in the best interests of the intended stakeholders concerned. A lack of sufficient transparency can actually facilitate clandestine influence which has the potential to represent a serious threat to corporate governance and planet governance. Insufficient transparency can also undermine trust and belief in the integrity of the decision-making process.

The Threat of Clandestine Influence

For although the act condemns the doer, the end may justify him… - Niccolò Machiavelli

Clandestine influence is typically associated with dark forces which operate in the murky shadows to both manipulate and exploit given situations for the benefit of special interest groups. It is linked to the notions of deception and disinformation campaigns where the true purpose is concealed, and real intentions are obscured. Clandestine influence can include various forms of covert activities (e.g. spying, espionage, and black ops etc) which operate in secrecy, with hidden agendas, where dishonesty prevails, and where the genuine motives are not disclosed in an open and transparent manner. While clandestine influence has long been associated with the intelligence services (e.g. CIA, MI6, KGB, and Mossad etc) it did not begin with the emergence of the Cold War, and it did not cease with the end of the Cold War. It can occur in the corporate and business context (e.g. fraud, money laundering, and organized crime etc) as well, and is concerned with a party (state or non-state actor) attempting to capture or exert influence over the affairs of another party in a clandestine manner. The purpose of clandestine activity is typically to extend power over others by promoting a specific agenda, and to influence policies, decisions, events, and relations within these targeted parties. It tends to flourish when actors can successfully exploit flaws, weaknesses, and deficiencies in existing governance systems.

Stakeholder groups can be motivated to engage in clandestine activities to increase the circumstances of their wealth, power, status, prestige, people, and territory. Therefore, clandestine influence is ubiquitous as it can occur at any (and all) level(s) of human activity. Conspiracy theorists have long suggested that at a macro level clandestine influence is firmly connected with an ongoing battle for supremacy between secret societies and their invisible empires (e.g. Illuminati, Bilderberg Group, and the Rothschild Family etc). The following represent some simplistic examples of the complex power struggles potentially taking place among stakeholder groups with competing interests:

The System: Bourgeoise (e.g. Super Rich, 1%, Oligarchs, Monarchs, Aristocrats, Colonists, Nepotism etc) versus Proletariat (e.g. Poor, 99%, Homeless, Slaves, Peasants, Immigrants, Merit etc)

World Order: Global North (e.g. The West, G7, EU etc) versus Global South (e.g. The Rest, BRICS+, Arab League etc)

Politics: Left (e.g. Communists, Liberals, Democrats, Socialists etc) versus Right (e.g. Capitalists, Conservatives, Dictators, Fascists etc)

Faith: Religion (e.g. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism etc) versus Secularism (e.g. Atheism, Agnosticism, Naturalism, Humanism, Rationalism etc)?

Geo-economics: Continental (i.e. North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, Oceania, Antarctica) versus Global Multi-national (e.g. Alphabet, Meta, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, BlackRock, McDonalds etc)?

Clandestine Interference

Clandestine interference can involve steering a party’s focus and activities in a certain direction or simply interfering in order to disable, weaken, or destroy the party concerned by undermining trust, eroding confidence, and sabotaging the reputation of that party and its activities. It can involve creating a toxic environment and ultimately creating a dysfunctional organization. It can also include destabilizing activities specifically designed to disturb, disrupt, or damage the operations of a targeted party. There have been regular allegations of clandestine activities being perpetrated by nation-states (e.g. USA, China, Russia, Israel, Iran, and North Korea etc) acting outside of their own jurisdictions. These include allegations of interference in elections (e.g. U.S. elections 2016), referendums (e.g. UK Brexit referendum 2015) and ongoing decisions (and law-making) by the parties concerned.

Clandestine interference can involve an attempt to control information (e.g. manipulation, suppression, and censorship etc) and the dissemination of misinformation (i.e. propaganda, fake news, and alternative facts etc) to help create a desired impression or perception. To date, the rise of social media has served to magnify the importance of being able to manipulate the information flow. This can be witnessed in the ongoing information and culture wars whereby divisive (and in some cases extremist) views on a wide range of topics (e.g. ESG, wokeism, apartheid, and genocide etc) appear to have resulted in the further ideological polarization of modern society rather than providing a platform for informed discussion and debate.

Clandestine Extortion

Clandestine extortion can involve strategically focusing on compromising members or officials of a targeted party and using aggressive methods such as bribery, blackmail, intimidation, and harassment to achieve the desired outcome. It can also involve economic manipulation by using financial instruments to support, fund, or penalize the individuals and parties concerned. Where a culture of corruption (political or corporate) already exists then the practice of bribery and the provision of other incentives is enabled and allowed to flourish. Blackmail generally revolves around the threat of tarnishing the target’s reputation in some shape or form. This has become even more prevalent in the digital age with the prevalence of hacking, surveillance, and cyber-spying. Intimidation can include physical, psychological, and emotional intimidation which can be used to not only to extract money and ensure support for a particular agenda, but also to help suppress subversive behaviour and silence dissenting voices when required. Once again social media can provide a platform to smear or otherwise tarnish the target’s reputation via public shaming using embarrassing and unflattering stereotyping, labelling, or branding. The extreme end of this spectrum can involve the use of force including violent coercion, assassination, and even war (including proxy warfare).

Clandestine Infiltration

Typically, clandestine influence involves the infiltration of targeted parties and generally involves the infiltration of its decision-making teams (i.e. boards, executive management, and committees etc) This can include the infiltration of its people, processes, and systems in order to exert a degree of influence over its ongoing activities. The ability to influence from within can be a very powerful tool. At a macro level clandestine infiltration could focus on specific global organizations (e.g. United Nations and its affiliates etc) and international groups (e.g. WEF, NATO, and OPEC etc). It could also focus on national governments (i.e. cabinet, congress, and senate etc), legal systems (e.g. judiciary, law society, and police etc), the media (e.g. MSM, social media, and journalism etc), academia (e.g. scholars, universities, and academies etc), business & finance (e.g. banking, asset management, auditing, and consulting etc), and even the entertainment industry (e.g. film, music, and sport etc). In the corporate world clandestine infiltration may focus on specific corporations, professional representative bodies, and regulatory bodies.

Clandestine infiltration can target the processes used for the recruitment, nomination (e.g. US Supreme Court etc), and appointment (e.g. UK House of Lords etc) to positions of power and influence. Ensuring that preferred candidates are nominated and approved can also involve clandestine interference and extortion. Infiltration can also involve reaching out to those already within an existing network (i.e. family, friends, supporters, members, alumni, congregation, and diaspora etc) who already occupy positions of power and influence. Once a Manchurian Candidate or sleeper is in place then clandestine lobbying can occur immediately, both within the target organization itself and on behalf of that organization, or it can be delayed until a later time of choosing.

Cognition of Red Flags (Warnings)

Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance - George Bernard Shaw

Clandestine influence can of course produce various forms of Red Flags which can indicate evidence of its presence or provide a warning of the possibility of its existence. Many of those in the know suggest that the following represent such red flags: 1) political shifts and polarization, 2) social divisiveness, 3) diplomatic tensions, 4) media imbalance and information manipulation, 5) financial and economic coercion, and 6) deteriorating alliances. Given that at least some (if not all six) of these red flags are to varying degrees currently present, some have questioned if we are already living in some version of a dystopian reality or descending into some form of nihilistic abyss. Given such concerns perhaps it would be wise to now take stock and re-evaluate our current version of reality (if it is not already too late).

Some commentators suggest that wars and conflicts zones (i.e. Palestine, Ukraine, Yemen, Syria, and Taiwan etc) can help to expose, and shine a spotlight on, clandestine activities where the true nature of an agenda may previously have been obscured from view. In such circumstances political corruption, double-standards, and hypocrisy can often reveal themselves and become more clearly highlighted when placed under the rigorous scrutiny of the world media. If this is in fact true, then perhaps 2024 is also an opportune time to reassess the nature of our current disputes and conceivably determine the true nature of the agendas currently at play before any further escalation ensues.? ?

Vigilance, Scepticism, and Diligence

Doubt is an uncomfortable position, but certainty is a ridiculous one - Voltaire

Life in general can be a constant struggle to determine what is certain and what is uncertain, what is probable and what is improbable, and what is known and what is unknown. Clandestine influence thrives in the realm of the uncertain, improbable, and unknown but can be rooted out through vigilance, scepticism, and diligence.

Continuous Vigilance

Vigilance is the kryptonite of clandestine influence and involves keeping a watchful eye out for clandestine activity. This means being alert to red flags, tell-tale signs, and other signals which could indicate the presence of such activity. It requires sustained concentration and attention to detail to be able to systematically detect inconsistencies, irregularities, and anomalies. It requires the intestinal fortitude to question and challenge issues which in any way appear illogical, irrational, or unreasonable. Vigilance needs to be continuous in nature and over a prolonged period of time it is recommended that both individuals and organizations also need to be vigilant of their vigilance.

A Healthy Level of Scepticism (and Cynicism)

Given that the power struggles referred to above appear to be occurring between such a wide range of stakeholder groups, specific clandestine influence can sometimes be very difficult to recognize. Because such battles often overlap, crisscross, and become intertwined it can be extremely difficult to clearly identify exactly whose special interests are being prioritized. In this regard a healthy level of scepticism and cynicism is often called for.

The greatest enemy of knowledge is not ignorance, it is the illusion of knowledge. – Stephen Hawking

For knowledge one can readily substitute any (or all) of the following: Honesty, Truth, Ethics, Honour, Integrity, Morality, Freedom, Certainty, Simplicity, and Scrutiny. For ignorance one can readily substitute the appropriate antonym. For some, the following examples may invoke certain Orwellian connotations:

• The greatest enemy of honesty is not dishonesty, it is the illusion of honesty.
• The greatest enemy of freedom is not slavery, it is the illusion of freedom.
• The greatest enemy of scrutiny is not a lack of scrutiny, it is the illusion of scrutiny.???

A healthy level of cynicism is also required when assessing facts, statistics, and assumptions for oneself. Over time it is advisable to be not only sceptical of one's scepticism, and cynical of one's cynicism but also cynical of one’s scepticism, and sceptical of one’s cynicism.

Due Diligence

In 2024, to effectively defend against clandestine influence improved (and perhaps reformed) levels of due diligence will be required. This should include robust cross-referencing systems of checks and balances as an essential element of oversight, supervision, and scrutiny. Due diligence should involve an inter-disciplinary mindset, and this should include a focus on the eight critical components of a value preservation and defense program (i.e. governance, risk, compliance, intelligence, security, resilience, controls, and assurance) to help ensure that there are no black boxes present within the organization. Due diligence should be based on the motto of Trust but Verify and therefore at a minimum should involve 2nd opinions, independent assurance, and specialist reviews. Developments in the field of artificial intelligence (A.I.) may well help to address this clandestine threat or it may in fact contribute by adding yet another layer of complexity to this already complex challenge. A.I. like so many other fields may be subject to and vulnerable to this clandestine threat.?

In reality, the true extent of the decision bias (i.e. implicit/explicit and conscious/unconscious) present in the decisions made by our global, international, and national leaders may never be known or fully revealed to others involved in the decision-making process (let alone the ordinary citizens of Planet Earth). Addressing the threat of clandestine influence will require a comprehensive and collaborative approach that involves key stakeholder groups (e.g. government agencies, civil society, private sector, and international community etc). It is however essential to strike a healthy balance between defending against clandestine influence and safeguarding democratic principles and individual freedoms. The use of witch hunts to expose clandestine activity, can also be used as a form of repression and persecution (e.g. McCarthyism, War on Terror, and Cancel Culture etc) which may themselves be the subject of clandestine influence.

The Future of Planet Earth in 2024 and Beyond – In Conclusion

May we have the hindsight to know where we came from, the insight to know where we are, and the foresight to know where we are going. – Irish Proverb

The premise of Project P.O.P.E. is that the preservation of Planet Earth will require a global solidarity of purpose. Such planet preservation will require successful planet governance, and effective planet governance requires proper oversight, supervision, and scrutiny in order to ensure an appropriate level of transparency is present at all times. This transparency is necessary in order to help anticipate, prevent, detect, and react to the occurrence of clandestine influence in the important decisions which need to be made concerning the future of our planet. The threat of clandestine influence represents a clear and present danger to corporate governance, planet governance, and by implication to planet preservation. Prudence, logic, and common-sense would suggest that if appropriate planet governance structures and systems are not in place and operating effectively then it is likely that genuine efforts to address other serious matters (i.e. planet risk, planet compliance, planet intelligence, planet security, planet resilience, planet controls, and planet assurance) will ultimately prove unsuccessful.

At the end of the day, the future of Planet Earth may well be determined by the following simple yet complex questions:

1. Is our current planet governance system fit for purpose or is it broken?
2. How can we possibly improve or reform our current system of planet governance?
3. Who exactly shall we trust to decide what is best for the future of Planet Earth?

The future of Planet Earth may well depend on our collective response to these three fundamental questions.

In conclusion, to finish right back where we started, allow me to adapt the opening quotation from Thomas Sowell by adding the following extension:

The most basic question is not what is best, but who shall decide what is best, and best for whom?

Further Reading

1. United Nations 2023: Guardian of Planet Preservation, Planet Governance, and International Law
2. Planet Governance: Why Good Governance is Critical for Planet Preservation
3. Project P.O.P.E. - Preservation of Planet Earth
4. Value Preservation Due Diligence