Miles Axe Copeland Jr. (July 16, 1916 – January 14, 1991) was an American musician, businessman, and
Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) officer best known for his close personal relationship with Egyptian leader
Gamal Abdel Nasser and his "controversial books on intelligence," including
The Game of Nations: The Amorality of Power Politics(1969) and
The Game Player: Confessions of the CIA's Original Political Operative (1989).
[1]In his memoirs, Copeland recounted his involvement in numerous covert operations, including the
March 1949 Syrian coup d'état, the
Egyptian 1952 Coup d'etat and the
1953 Iranian coup d'état.
[2] A
conservative influenced by the ideas of
James Burnham, Copeland was associated with the American political magazine
National Review.
[3][4] In a 1986
Rolling Stone interview, he stated, "Unlike
The New York Times,
Victor Marchetti and
Philip Agee, my complaint has been that the CIA isn't overthrowing enough anti-American governments or assassinating enough anti-American leaders, but I guess I'm getting old."
[5] He was the father of drummer Stuart Copeland of The Police, recognised as 'The Greatest Post-Punk band of them all.'