The culture of knowledge and intelligence is half academic and half entertainment. The thirst for power and authority is the only thing all humans have in common independent of what one considers power. According to Professor Ungureanu, the search for power is an innate characteristic of human beings and is part of one's existence in the world. For him, power is built on knowledge and the idea that the more one knows, the more powerful one is. To quote Francis Bacon, knowledge is power. Different kinds of knowledge lead to different kinds questions that will eventually lead to more power. States are aware of this phenomenon and seek to capitalize on it.

Diplomacy and intelligence represent the two opposing parts of the same coin. A country must have good and reliable treatment of information to maintain successful intelligence and foreign affairs institutions. Although both agencies feed into similar information, intelligence and diplomacy differ on the way they portray themselves. While diplomacy represents their states publicly, espionage is usually conducted in secrecy and outside the spotlights. Nevertheless, Ungureanu emphasizes that both intelligence and diplomatic agencies have similar goals: to search for information that could be synthesizes as a product of intelligence and knowledge.

Professor Ungureanu warns, however, that diplomacy and intelligence are not about finding truth, but about finding truthful information. They are about developing information that is credible and close to reality, but not necessarily true. According to him, any aspect of life can become a source of data and information, but that does not mean every information is knowledge. Knowledge can be equated to data plus information which can be transformed into intelligence. In this way, information maintains a pragmatic meaning and assists states in decision-making processes.

A nation's best defense is to educate its citizens. For this reason, it is necessary to acquire accurate information and certify that people are asking for the right things from states. Information works in a way that needs to be synthesized and analyzed, to enable decision makers to take necessary actions. When citizens know what to ask for, they become better players of the intelligence cycle. The cycle involves a planning stage, collection of data, processing information, analyzing it and producing reports followed by the dissemination and feedback processes. Intelligence is a process that addresses the deep change of the very nature of data and information. This process is utilized to avoid the element of surprise and predict how we can prevent the bad things from happening while making sure the good things continue to happen.

To symbolize the culture of secrecy in diplomacy and intelligence, Ungureanu alludes to Italian novelist Umberto Eco and the symbolism behind the rose in the novel The Name of the Rose. A rose is the symbol of secrets. The anthropology of secrets is essential for the survival of groups and it is innate to human nature. It is one of the greatest accomplishments of humanity and considered a source of great power because it provides a veil when information becomes knowledge. For this reason, it is not possible for states to be completely transparent, no matter how the world changes.

Both diplomacy and intelligence agencies share the same definition and culture of secrecy. Therefore, secrecy is vital for their survival and to the maintenance of national security. The case with Edward Snowden illustrates how the same event can be interpreted in two distinct ways. In the ethical interpretation, Snowden can be considered a whistleblower and a hero for unveiling the state's secrets. But at a functional level, he was wrong to reveal these secrets and jeopardize the safety of others.

Ungureanu moves on to explain how to acquire intelligence and data. He says that information can be collected through big data, cultural intelligence and business intelligence. It can also be collected through clandestine acquisition, overt collection, debriefing and official contacts. Human vulnerabilities also play a defining role. Represented by the acronym, MICE, spies capitalize on human's four main vulnerabilities to discover what they are seeking. The vulnerabilities are money, ideology, compromise/coercion and ego. Drawing on examples from former Soviet double agents, professor Ungureanu mentions the stories behind Aldrich Ames, Robert Hanssen and Edward Lee Howard and how their human flaws led to their debacle.

In the question and answer section, Ungureanu stresses the importance of budget and technology in developing a country's intelligence unit. According to him, small countries such as Monaco and the Vatican have some of the best intelligence units of the world because they have the resources and the right network to establish sophisticated intelligence services. He adds that in the world of espionage, there are no allies. Nothing is personal. For them, the only real enemy is the budget constraints and the ministry of finance.

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Mihai-Razvan Ungureanu, former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, is a university professor and historian.

Ungureanu holds an MA (1992) and PhD (2004) from the University of Iași, Romania. He has held academic positions in the areas of Romanian and European history and international relations at universities worldwide, including London, Oxford, Berlin, Jerusalem, Innsbruck, Seoul, Budapest and New York. In 2012 Ungureanu received an honoris causa PhD from the University of Pecs, Hungary. He is currently Professor of Modern European and Romanian History at the University of Bucharest, Senior Research Fellow at the Institut fuer den Donauraum un Mitteleuropa (Vienna) and Professorial Lecturer at the Diplomatische Akademie, and Universitaet Wien (Austria).

Ungureanu is a member of the Advisory Board of the Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, Berlin; the Academic Council of the "Sever Zotta" Institute for Genealogy and Heraldry, Iasi; and the European Association for Jewish Studies, UK.

His academic work includes "The Comprehensive Catalogue of Moldavian Boyars" (Iasi, 2014), "Always Loyal: Diplomatic Notes for a Modern Romania" (Bucharest, 2008), "Conversion and Integration in the Romanian Society in the Early Modern Era" (Iasi, 2004).

From 1998 Ungureanu held various posts in the Romanian diplomatic service before becoming Foreign Minister of Romania (2004-2007) and subsequently Director of the Romanian Foreign Intelligence Service. He served as Prime Minister of Romania from February to May 2012.

Ungureanu is the recipient of National Orders of Merit from Romania and from other countries, including La Legion d'Honneur and the Dannebrog Order.