The Fourth Protocol
Encyclopedia
The Fourth Protocol is a novel written by Frederick Forsyth
and published in August 1984.
, which (at least in the world of the novel) contained four secret protocols. The fourth, of the protocols, was meant to prohibit the non-conventional delivery of nuclear weapon
s, i.e. by means other than being dropped from aircraft or carried on ballistic missile
s. This included postal delivery services or being assembled in secret, close to the target, before being detonated.
1986, professional thief Jim Rawlings breaks into the apartment of a senior civil servant in the United Kingdom
. Out to steal some valuable diamonds, he also, unintentionally, discovers stolen top secret
documents. Although one of the most notorious crooks in London, Rawlings is enough of a patriot to send the documents, anonymously, to MI5
so that they might find the traitor.
In Moscow, the British traitor Kim Philby
drafts a memorandum for the General Secretary
(Soviet president) stating that, if the Labour Party
wins the next general election in the UK (scheduled for sometime in the subsequent eighteen months), the "hard left
" of the party will oust the moderate, populist Neil Kinnock
in favour of a radical new leader who will adopt a true Marxist-Leninist
manifesto, including the expulsion of all American forces from England and the country's withdrawal from and repudiation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In conjunction with a GRU
general, an academic named Krilov and a master strategist, Philby devises "Plan Aurora" to ensure a Labour victory by exploiting the party's support for unilateral disarmament
—although it is noted that Krilov has come up with most of the plan's strategy.
MI5
officer John Preston, who was exploring hard left infiltration of the Labour party, investigates the stolen documents and finds that they were leaked by George Berenson, a passionate anti-communist
and supporter of South Africa
. Berenson passed on the documents to Jan Marais, a man he believes is a South African diplomat, but Preston discovers he is actually a Russian false flag
agent. SIS
chief Sir Nigel Irvine confronts Berenson with the truth and "turns him", using him to pass disinformation to the KGB
.
Preston is being pushed towards retirement by a senior but younger MI5 superior, who wants older MI5 hands to leave the agency, but Preston is worried about his retirement finances, as he wants custody of his son in a divorce settlement. However, Sir Nigel Irvine is impressed by Preston's work.
As part of Plan Aurora, Russian "illegal" agent Valeri Petrofsky arrives in England under the cover of James Duncan Ross and sets up home at 12 Cherryhayes Close, Ipswich
. From there, he travels around the country collecting packages from various couriers who have smuggled them into the country as harmless-looking artifacts.
One of the couriers, disguised as a sailor, is attacked by neds
in Glasgow and taken to hospital, where he commits suicide rather than submit to questioning. Preston investigates and finds three out-of-place looking metal discs in a tobacco tin in his gunny sack
: two light-coloured, with a darker one between them. He shows the discs to a metallurgist
who identifies the outer two as aluminum but the other as polonium
, a key element in the initiator of an atomic bomb. Preston reports his findings to his MI5 superior, who ignores them and has Preston taken off the politically embarrassing case. Sir Nigel Irvine, however, suspects that a major intelligence operation is under way, and has Preston work unofficially for him to search for other Russian couriers connected to the Glasgow incident. At the same time, he uses Berenson to pass a deliberate piece of disinformation
to the KGB.
In Moscow, the director of operations for the KGB, General Karpov, discovers an operation mounted in England, without his involvement or knowledge. Karpov manages to identify the people involved in devising Plan Aurora, including hints pointing to the General Secretary as the initiator. He blackmails Krilov to reveal the plan, which involves smuggling component parts of an atomic bomb into England—in contravention of the Fourth Protocol to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
signed by all the superpowers which bans such activity—and to explode it near Bentwaters Air Force Base
a week before the general election. The plan also involves assistance from a disillusioned Israeli nuclear scientist who works for the Russians and a "crisis" that would be created by the General Secretary and then "ended" with all credit going to Labour Party leader Kinnock for resolving the crisis. Evidence would be left that the explosion was an accidental detonation of an American weapon, leading to a wave of anti-Americanism
, support for unilateral disarmament
and for the only major party committed to disarmament, the Labour Party, to win the election. The day after they win the election, the hard left will take over and basically begin to dismantle the Western alliance in Europe.
Meanwhile, Preston tries in vain to uncover other couriers connected to the operation. A month into the investigation, a bumbling Czech agent under the name Franz Winkler arrives at Heathrow with a forged passport and is followed to a house in Chesterfield. Preston's patience is rewarded when Petrofsky shows up to use the radio transmitter that is located there. He trails Petrofsky to his rented house, where the bomb has been assembled. An SAS
team is called in to storm the house, and manage to wound Petrofsky before he can detonate the bomb. Against Preston's express wishes, the leader of the SAS team shoots the Russian agent in the head afterwards. Before dying Petrofsky manages to say one last word: “Philby”.
Preston confronts Sir Nigel Irvine with his theory that the operation was deliberately blown by Philby. Philby did not know Petrofksy's location but instead, sent Franz Winkler, with an obviously forged passport, to the location of the transmitter, and ultimately, to Petrofsky. Sir Nigel admits to sabotaging the KGB's British operation by leaking disinformation through Berenson to General Karpov, that they were closing in on their suspect. In turn, Karpov (and not Philby) sent Winkler, sabotaging Plan Aurora. By sending Winkler, Karpov is thwarting a British publicity victory as Sir Nigel understood the implication, that Petrofsky must not be taken alive or exposed in the media.
At the novel's end, Preston's MI5 superior and adversary is denied a senior leadership role due to his misjudgment in the case and subsequently resigns from MI5 altogether. Preston also resigns, but through Sir Nigel Irvine, finds lucrative private-sector employment that enables him to obtain full custody of his young son. Marais is taken into custody by South African intelligence and begins his interrogation. Berenson's spy work is left unusable to the KGB, as Sir Nigel, using his own spy network, intends to plant the suspicion that Berenson was in fact a double agent
, and so his information will be considered suspect.
Frederick Forsyth
Frederick Forsyth, CBE is an English author and occasional political commentator. He is best known for thrillers such as The Day of the Jackal, The Odessa File, The Fourth Protocol, The Dogs of War, The Devil's Alternative, The Fist of God, Icon, The Veteran, Avenger, The Afghan and The Cobra.-...
and published in August 1984.
Explanation of the novel's title
The title refers to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation TreatyNuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...
, which (at least in the world of the novel) contained four secret protocols. The fourth, of the protocols, was meant to prohibit the non-conventional delivery of nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s, i.e. by means other than being dropped from aircraft or carried on ballistic missile
Ballistic missile
A ballistic missile is a missile that follows a sub-orbital ballistic flightpath with the objective of delivering one or more warheads to a predetermined target. The missile is only guided during the relatively brief initial powered phase of flight and its course is subsequently governed by the...
s. This included postal delivery services or being assembled in secret, close to the target, before being detonated.
Plot summary
On New Year's EveNew Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
1986, professional thief Jim Rawlings breaks into the apartment of a senior civil servant in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
. Out to steal some valuable diamonds, he also, unintentionally, discovers stolen top secret
Top Secret
Top Secret generally refers to the highest acknowledged level of classified information.Top Secret may also refer to:- Film and television :* Top Secret , a British comedy directed by Mario Zampi...
documents. Although one of the most notorious crooks in London, Rawlings is enough of a patriot to send the documents, anonymously, to MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
so that they might find the traitor.
In Moscow, the British traitor Kim Philby
Kim Philby
Harold Adrian Russell "Kim" Philby was a high-ranking member of British intelligence who worked as a spy for and later defected to the Soviet Union...
drafts a memorandum for the General Secretary
General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union
General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was the title given to the leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. With some exceptions, the office was synonymous with leader of the Soviet Union...
(Soviet president) stating that, if the Labour Party
Labour Party (UK)
The Labour Party is a centre-left democratic socialist party in the United Kingdom. It surpassed the Liberal Party in general elections during the early 1920s, forming minority governments under Ramsay MacDonald in 1924 and 1929-1931. The party was in a wartime coalition from 1940 to 1945, after...
wins the next general election in the UK (scheduled for sometime in the subsequent eighteen months), the "hard left
Hard left
Hard left is a name often given to an internal tendency within the British Labour Party. Similar terminology is used also in the context of the Australian Labor Party....
" of the party will oust the moderate, populist Neil Kinnock
Neil Kinnock
Neil Gordon Kinnock, Baron Kinnock is a Welsh politician belonging to the Labour Party. He served as a Member of Parliament from 1970 until 1995 and as Labour Leader and Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition from 1983 until 1992 - his leadership of the party during nearly nine years making him...
in favour of a radical new leader who will adopt a true Marxist-Leninist
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...
manifesto, including the expulsion of all American forces from England and the country's withdrawal from and repudiation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In conjunction with a GRU
GRU
GRU or Glavnoye Razvedyvatel'noye Upravleniye is the foreign military intelligence directorate of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation...
general, an academic named Krilov and a master strategist, Philby devises "Plan Aurora" to ensure a Labour victory by exploiting the party's support for unilateral disarmament
Unilateral disarmament
Unilateral disarmament is a policy option, to renounce weapons without seeking equivalent concessions from one's actual or potential rivals. It was most commonly used in the twentieth century in the context of unilateral nuclear disarmament, a recurrent objective of peace movements in countries...
—although it is noted that Krilov has come up with most of the plan's strategy.
MI5
MI5
The Security Service, commonly known as MI5 , is the United Kingdom's internal counter-intelligence and security agency and is part of its core intelligence machinery alongside the Secret Intelligence Service focused on foreign threats, Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence...
officer John Preston, who was exploring hard left infiltration of the Labour party, investigates the stolen documents and finds that they were leaked by George Berenson, a passionate anti-communist
Anti-communism
Anti-communism is opposition to communism. Organized anti-communism developed in reaction to the rise of communism, especially after the 1917 October Revolution in Russia and the beginning of the Cold War in 1947.-Objections to communist theory:...
and supporter of South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
. Berenson passed on the documents to Jan Marais, a man he believes is a South African diplomat, but Preston discovers he is actually a Russian false flag
False flag
False flag operations are covert operations designed to deceive the public in such a way that the operations appear as though they are being carried out by other entities. The name is derived from the military concept of flying false colors; that is flying the flag of a country other than one's own...
agent. SIS
Secret Intelligence Service
The Secret Intelligence Service is responsible for supplying the British Government with foreign intelligence. Alongside the internal Security Service , the Government Communications Headquarters and the Defence Intelligence , it operates under the formal direction of the Joint Intelligence...
chief Sir Nigel Irvine confronts Berenson with the truth and "turns him", using him to pass disinformation to the KGB
KGB
The KGB was the commonly used acronym for the . It was the national security agency of the Soviet Union from 1954 until 1991, and was the premier internal security, intelligence, and secret police organization during that time.The State Security Agency of the Republic of Belarus currently uses the...
.
Preston is being pushed towards retirement by a senior but younger MI5 superior, who wants older MI5 hands to leave the agency, but Preston is worried about his retirement finances, as he wants custody of his son in a divorce settlement. However, Sir Nigel Irvine is impressed by Preston's work.
As part of Plan Aurora, Russian "illegal" agent Valeri Petrofsky arrives in England under the cover of James Duncan Ross and sets up home at 12 Cherryhayes Close, Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
. From there, he travels around the country collecting packages from various couriers who have smuggled them into the country as harmless-looking artifacts.
One of the couriers, disguised as a sailor, is attacked by neds
Ned (Scottish)
Ned is a derogatory term applied in Scotland to hooligans, louts or petty criminals, latterly with the stereotypical implication that they wear casual sports clothes. Such usage in Glasgow dates back to the 1960s or earlier.-Early use of term:...
in Glasgow and taken to hospital, where he commits suicide rather than submit to questioning. Preston investigates and finds three out-of-place looking metal discs in a tobacco tin in his gunny sack
Gunny sack
A gunny sack is an inexpensive bag made of burlap, also known as a 'gunny shoe'. Gunny sacks are traditionally used for transporting grains, potatoes, and other agricultural products. Today they are also sometimes used as sandbags for erosion control. They are usually made from jute or other...
: two light-coloured, with a darker one between them. He shows the discs to a metallurgist
Metallurgy
Metallurgy is a domain of materials science that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their intermetallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are called alloys. It is also the technology of metals: the way in which science is applied to their practical use...
who identifies the outer two as aluminum but the other as polonium
Polonium
Polonium is a chemical element with the symbol Po and atomic number 84, discovered in 1898 by Marie Skłodowska-Curie and Pierre Curie. A rare and highly radioactive element, polonium is chemically similar to bismuth and tellurium, and it occurs in uranium ores. Polonium has been studied for...
, a key element in the initiator of an atomic bomb. Preston reports his findings to his MI5 superior, who ignores them and has Preston taken off the politically embarrassing case. Sir Nigel Irvine, however, suspects that a major intelligence operation is under way, and has Preston work unofficially for him to search for other Russian couriers connected to the Glasgow incident. At the same time, he uses Berenson to pass a deliberate piece of disinformation
Disinformation
Disinformation is intentionally false or inaccurate information that is spread deliberately. For this reason, it is synonymous with and sometimes called black propaganda. It is an act of deception and false statements to convince someone of untruth...
to the KGB.
In Moscow, the director of operations for the KGB, General Karpov, discovers an operation mounted in England, without his involvement or knowledge. Karpov manages to identify the people involved in devising Plan Aurora, including hints pointing to the General Secretary as the initiator. He blackmails Krilov to reveal the plan, which involves smuggling component parts of an atomic bomb into England—in contravention of the Fourth Protocol to the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
The Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, commonly known as the Non-Proliferation Treaty or NPT, is a landmark international treaty whose objective is to prevent the spread of nuclear weapons and weapons technology, to promote cooperation in the peaceful uses of nuclear energy and to...
signed by all the superpowers which bans such activity—and to explode it near Bentwaters Air Force Base
RAF Bentwaters
RAF Bentwaters, now known as Bentwaters Parks, is a former Royal Air Force station about 80 miles NE of London, 10 miles ENE of Ipswich, near Woodbridge, Suffolk in England...
a week before the general election. The plan also involves assistance from a disillusioned Israeli nuclear scientist who works for the Russians and a "crisis" that would be created by the General Secretary and then "ended" with all credit going to Labour Party leader Kinnock for resolving the crisis. Evidence would be left that the explosion was an accidental detonation of an American weapon, leading to a wave of anti-Americanism
Anti-Americanism
The term Anti-Americanism, or Anti-American Sentiment, refers to broad opposition or hostility to the people, policies, culture or government of the United States...
, support for unilateral disarmament
Nuclear disarmament
Nuclear disarmament refers to both the act of reducing or eliminating nuclear weapons and to the end state of a nuclear-free world, in which nuclear weapons are completely eliminated....
and for the only major party committed to disarmament, the Labour Party, to win the election. The day after they win the election, the hard left will take over and basically begin to dismantle the Western alliance in Europe.
Meanwhile, Preston tries in vain to uncover other couriers connected to the operation. A month into the investigation, a bumbling Czech agent under the name Franz Winkler arrives at Heathrow with a forged passport and is followed to a house in Chesterfield. Preston's patience is rewarded when Petrofsky shows up to use the radio transmitter that is located there. He trails Petrofsky to his rented house, where the bomb has been assembled. An SAS
Special Air Service
Special Air Service or SAS is a corps of the British Army constituted on 31 May 1950. They are part of the United Kingdom Special Forces and have served as a model for the special forces of many other countries all over the world...
team is called in to storm the house, and manage to wound Petrofsky before he can detonate the bomb. Against Preston's express wishes, the leader of the SAS team shoots the Russian agent in the head afterwards. Before dying Petrofsky manages to say one last word: “Philby”.
Preston confronts Sir Nigel Irvine with his theory that the operation was deliberately blown by Philby. Philby did not know Petrofksy's location but instead, sent Franz Winkler, with an obviously forged passport, to the location of the transmitter, and ultimately, to Petrofsky. Sir Nigel admits to sabotaging the KGB's British operation by leaking disinformation through Berenson to General Karpov, that they were closing in on their suspect. In turn, Karpov (and not Philby) sent Winkler, sabotaging Plan Aurora. By sending Winkler, Karpov is thwarting a British publicity victory as Sir Nigel understood the implication, that Petrofsky must not be taken alive or exposed in the media.
At the novel's end, Preston's MI5 superior and adversary is denied a senior leadership role due to his misjudgment in the case and subsequently resigns from MI5 altogether. Preston also resigns, but through Sir Nigel Irvine, finds lucrative private-sector employment that enables him to obtain full custody of his young son. Marais is taken into custody by South African intelligence and begins his interrogation. Berenson's spy work is left unusable to the KGB, as Sir Nigel, using his own spy network, intends to plant the suspicion that Berenson was in fact a double agent
Double agent
A double agent, commonly abbreviated referral of double secret agent, is a counterintelligence term used to designate an employee of a secret service or organization, whose primary aim is to spy on the target organization, but who in fact is a member of that same target organization oneself. They...
, and so his information will be considered suspect.
Adaptations
- In 1985 The Fourth Protocol was adapted into a computer gameThe Fourth Protocol (computer game)The Fourth Protocol is an interactive fiction computer game based on Frederick Forsyth's 1984 spy novel The Fourth Protocol. The detective-style gameplay resembles contemporary menu-driven adventures such as The Vera Cruz Affair, and later titles such as Yes, Prime Minister and Floor 13.The game...
for the ZX SpectrumZX SpectrumThe ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and Commodore 64Commodore 64The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
home computers. - In 1987 the book was made into a filmThe Fourth Protocol (film)The Fourth Protocol is a 1987 Cold War spy film starring Michael Caine and Pierce Brosnan, based on the novel The Fourth Protocol by Frederick Forsyth.- Plot :The plot centres on a secret 1968 East-West agreement to halt nuclear proliferation...
starring Michael CaineMichael CaineSir Michael Caine, CBE is an English actor. He won Academy Awards for best supporting actor in both Hannah and Her Sisters and The Cider House Rules ....
and Pierce BrosnanPierce BrosnanPierce Brendan Brosnan, OBE is an Irish actor, film producer and environmentalist. After leaving school at 16, Brosnan began training in commercial illustration, but trained at the Drama Centre in London for three years...
.