thumb|Moscow street scene, 1960

The Moscow rules are rules-of-thumb said to have been developed during the Cold War to be used by spies and others working in Moscow.

The rules are associated with Moscow because the city developed a reputation as being a particularly harsh locale for clandestine operatives who were exposed. The list may never have existed as written.

The rules

CIA officer Tony Mendez wrote:<blockquote>Although no one had written them down, they were the precepts we all understood for conducting operations in the most difficult of operating environments: the Soviet capital. By the time they got to Moscow, everyone knew these rules. They were dead simple and full of common sense.</blockquote>In the International Spy Museum in Washington, D.C., the Moscow Rules are given as:

  • Assume nothing.
  • Never go against your gut.
  • Everyone is potentially under opposition control.
  • Do not look back; you are never completely alone.
  • Go with the flow, blend in.
  • Vary your pattern and stay within your cover.
  • Lull them into a sense of complacency.
  • Do not harass the opposition.
  • Pick the time and place for action.
  • Keep your options open.

References

Further reading

  • Whidden. Glenn H. A Guidebook For Beginning Sweepers. Technical Services Agency