The Origins of CIA's Involvement in Regime Change and Paramilitary Operations 

Beginning in 1949, CIA embarked on a series of covert paramilitary operations aimed at destabilizing and overthrowing Soviet satellite governments in Europe. The planning and execution of these operations was modeled after the widely successful operations that OSS mounted during World War II. The outcome was very different. The lecture describes CIA's initial experience in paramilitary operations using as a case study its efforts to force a regime change in Communist Albania between 1949 and 1954.
This lecture was given by Albert Lulushi at the sixth Annual Kosciuszko Chair Spring Symposium at The Institute of World Politics on April 9, 2016.
Mr. Albert Lulushi is an entrepreneur, business executive, and author of narrative non-fiction books on intelligence, military, and Cold War subjects. His latest book is Donovan's Devils: OSS Commandos-World War II, Europe. His previous book, Operation Valuable Fiend: The CIA’s First Paramilitary Strike against the Iron Curtain, was a History Book Club and Military History Book Club selection.