covert action

American  

noun

1. a secret action undertaken to influence the course of political events, as a government intelligence operation.

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Etymology

Origin of covert action

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Whether the attack was one carried out by traditional military assets or through some other means, such as a destructive cyber operation or a covert action led by the Central Intelligence Agency, is also uncertain.

From The Wall Street Journal

Outgunned by Russia in weaponry, Kyiv ruthlessly exploited its few advantages available for covert action.

From The Wall Street Journal

Ned Price, deputy to the US representative to the United Nations and formerly a CIA senior analyst and State Department senior adviser, said CIA covert action can take "many forms."

From BBC

Covert action, which is authorized in what is known as a presidential finding, can involve a range of secret activities including paramilitary and lethal operations meant to influence political, economic or military conditions in foreign countries.

From The Wall Street Journal

Covert action offers deniability but may not satisfy the political need to visibly restore deterrence, says Christopher Clary of the University at Albany in the US.

From BBC