Editing SPECTRE (section)

==Philosophy and goals==
[[File:SPECTRE.jpg|thumb|right|Blofeld's SPECTRE volcano base complete with spacecraft-swallowing ''Bird One'' spacecraft, helipad and attack helicopter, and command centre in the 1967 film ''[[You Only Live Twice (film)|You Only Live Twice]]''. The world map in the background is common to emphasise the aim of [[world domination]].]]

In the [[James Bond]] novels, SPECTRE is an organised crime enterprise led by [[Ernst Stavro Blofeld]]. The organisation's executive consists of 21 individuals, 18 of whom handle day-to-day affairs. Members are drawn in groups of three from six of the world's most notorious organisations — the [[Nazi Germany|Nazi German]] [[Gestapo]], the [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] [[SMERSH]], [[Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia|Yugoslav]] Marshal [[Josip Broz Tito]]'s [[OZNA]], the [[Sicilian Mafia|Italian Mafia]], the [[France|French]]-[[Corsica]]n [[Unione Corse]], and KRYSTAL, a massive [[Turkey|Turkish]] heroin-smuggling operation. Coincidentally, the three from KRYSTAL are all former members of RAHIR, an intelligence agency previously run by Blofeld.<ref>''Thunderball'', Ian Fleming, Page 63, 1961, London: Johnathon Cape</ref> The remaining three members are Blofeld himself and two scientific/technical experts who make their debut in the ninth Bond novel, ''[[Thunderball (novel)|Thunderball]]'' (1961). When [[Ian Fleming]] was writing the novel in 1959, he believed that the [[Cold War]] might end during the two years it would take to produce the film, and he came to the conclusion that the inclusion of a contemporary political villain would leave the film looking dated. Therefore, he thought it better to create a politically neutral enemy for Bond.<ref>''Ian Fleming'', [[Andrew Lycett]], Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1995.</ref> Fleming's SPECTRE has elements inspired by mafia syndicates and [[organised crime]] rings that were actively hunted by law enforcement in the 1950s. The strict codes of loyalty and silence, and the hard retributions that followed violations, were hallmarks of [[United States|American]] gangster rings, the Italian Mafia, the [[Russian mafia]], the [[Unione Corse]], the [[China|Chinese]] [[Tong (organization)|Tongs]] and [[triad (organized crime)|Triads]], and the [[Japan]]ese [[Yakuza]] and [[Black Dragon Society]]. During the events of ''Thunderball'', SPECTRE successfully hijacked two [[nuclear warhead]]s for ransom.

The organisation is next mentioned in the tenth novel, ''[[The Spy Who Loved Me (novel)|The Spy Who Loved Me]]'' (1962), when [[James Bond (literary character)|James Bond]] describes investigating their activities in Toronto before the story begins, though they play no part in the story itself. The organisation's third appearance is in the eleventh novel, ''[[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (novel)|On Her Majesty's Secret Service]]'' (1963) where Blofeld, hired by an unnamed country or party—though the Soviet Union is implied—is executing a plan to [[Agro-terrorism|ruin British agriculture]] with [[biological warfare]]. Blofeld, with a weakened SPECTRE, would appear for the final time in the twelfth novel, ''[[You Only Live Twice (novel)|You Only Live Twice]]'' (1964). By this point, the organisation has largely been shut down, and what remains is focused on maintaining Blofeld's alias as Dr. Guntram von Shatterhand and his compound in Japan.

In the films, the organisation often acts as a third party in the ongoing Cold War. Their objectives have ranged from supporting [[Julius No|Dr. Julius No]] ([[Joseph Wiseman]]) in sabotaging American rocket launches, holding the world to ransom, and demanding clemency from governments for their previous crimes. The goal of world domination was only ever stated in the film version of ''[[You Only Live Twice (film)|You Only Live Twice]]'' (1967) when SPECTRE was working on behalf of an unnamed Asian government. This is strongly implied to be [[China|Red China]], who earlier backed [[Auric Goldfinger]] ([[Gert Fröbe]]) in [[Goldfinger (film)|the 1964 film of the same name]].

Its long-term strategy, however, is illustrated by the analogy of the three [[Siamese fighting fish]] Blofeld keeps in an aquarium aboard SPECTRE's yacht in the film version of ''[[From Russia with Love (film)|From Russia with Love]]'' (1963). Blofeld notes that one fish is refraining from fighting two others until their fight is concluded. Then, that cunning fish attacks the weakened victor and kills it easily. Thus SPECTRE's main strategy is to instigate conflict between two powerful enemies, namely the [[Superpower#Cold War|superpower]]s, hoping that they will exhaust themselves and be vulnerable when it seizes power. SPECTRE thus works with, and against, both sides of the Cold War. For example, in the film ''[[Thunderball (film)|Thunderball]]'' (1965), it simultaneously [[blackmail]]s a Japanese [[double agent]], distributes Red Chinese narcotics in the United States, kills a [[defector]] to the USSR on behalf of the [[French Foreign Ministry]], and threatens [[NATO]] with stolen nuclear weapons, while continuing ordinary criminal operations such as advising on the British [[Great Train Robbery (1963)|Great Train Robbery]].

In both the film and the novel ''Thunderball'', the physical headquarters of the organisation are in Paris, operating behind a [[front organisation]] aiding refugees named "Firco" (''Fraternité Internationale de la Résistance Contre l'Oppression'') in the novels and "International Brotherhood for the Assistance of [[Statelessness|Stateless]] Persons" in the films. Organisational discipline is notoriously [[Draco (lawgiver)#"Draconian"|draconian]], with the penalty for disobedience or failure being death. To heighten the impact of executions, Blofeld had been known to focus attention on an innocent member, making it appear his death is imminent, only to suddenly strike down the actual target when that person is off guard.