SISMI
Servizio per le Informazioni e la Sicurezza Militare (Military Intelligence and Security Service) was the military intelligence agency of Italy from 1977-2007.
With the reform of the Italian Intelligence Services approved on 1 August 2007, SISMI was replaced by Agenzia Informazioni e Sicurezza Esterna.
History
Since the end of World War II, Italian intelligence agencies have been reorganized many times (SIM 1900-49, SIFAR 1949-65, SIOS 1949-97, SID 1965-77, SISDE, SISMI, 1977–2007) in an attempt to increase their effectiveness and bring them more fully under civilian control.
The agency was established as part of a broader reform of the Italian intelligence community, which represented the latest in a long string of government attempts to effectively manage Italy's intelligence agencies.
- The split of SID, the intelligence agency at that time, into two separate agencies with different roles: SISDE (the domestic one) and SISMI (the military one).
- The creation of CESIS, with a coordination role between the two intelligence agencies and the Presidency of the Council of Ministers.
- The creation of the Parliamentary Committee, COPACO, to oversee the activities of the two agencies.
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