# DGSE The Direction Générale de la Sécurité Extérieure (Directorate-General for External Security) is France's foreign intelligence service — the French equivalent of the [[CIA]] and [[MI6]]. Unlike most Western intelligence agencies that separate human intelligence from signals intelligence, the DGSE combines both functions under one roof, along with covert action and counterproliferation. Established in 1982 as the successor to SDECE, the DGSE reports to the Ministry of Armed Forces and operates from its headquarters in the 20th arrondissement of Paris. France maintains an intelligence posture independent of Anglo-American structures — a Gaullist legacy that positions French intelligence as serving specifically French interests even within allied frameworks. France participates in the [[Nine Eyes]] intelligence-sharing arrangement but with fewer integration points than the Five Eyes core members. The DGSE is notable for conducting aggressive economic espionage on behalf of French industry — a practice that has occasionally generated friction with Five Eyes partners, who discovered DGSE collection operations targeting US technology and defense firms. ## See Also - [[DGSI]] — French domestic intelligence - [[CIA]] — US equivalent - [[Nine Eyes]] — the intelligence-sharing tier France belongs to - [[Global Intelligence Hub]] — full agency index