The international world order is “under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War”, the U.K. and U.S. spy chiefs together warned Saturday.

Sir Richard Moore and William Burns – head of the UK Secret Intelligence Service (SIS) and director of the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) respectively – delivered their cautionary tale in a Financial Times opinion piece, adding they saw the war in Ukraine coming “and were able to warn the international community”, in part by declassifying secrets to help Kyiv.

Further work is already being done to “disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage” across Europe by Moscow, push for de-escalation in the Israel-Gaza war, and counterterrorism to thwart the resurgent Islamic State. The two further wrote:

There is no question that the international world order – the balanced system that has led to relative peace and stability and delivered rising living standards, opportunities and prosperity – is under threat in a way we haven’t seen since the Cold War.

For both agencies, “the rise of China is the principal intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the 21st century, and we have reorganised our services to reflect that priority.”

On Russia, the heads of MI6 and the CIA said Russian intelligence was waging a “reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe.”

They did not list examples but there has been a spate of mysterious sabotage and arson attacks on infrastructure in the UK, Germany and in the Baltics.

U.S. intelligence also reportedly foiled an alleged Russian plot to assassinate the chief executive of Germany’s leading arms manufacturer.

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As well as physical sabotage, the two pinpointed threats posed to Western democracies by Russian information operations.

Both men set out staying the course in resisting Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine “is more vital than ever”, saying Russia “will not succeed in extinguishing Ukraine’s sovereignty and independence”.

“In the 21st century, crises don’t come sequentially,” they wrote. “While significant attention and resources are being deployed against Russia, we are acting together in other places and spaces to counter the risk of global instability.”

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