Hostile‑force designation as counterintelligence tool

Designating a rival state as a formal 'foreign hostile force' and empowering expedited military courts and broad security measures is a governance lever that democracies can use to respond to deep infiltration; it raises trade‑offs between deterrence, civil‑liberties risk, and partisan weaponization. Tracking how democracies operationalize such labels (legal thresholds, oversight, evidence standards) is important for allied cooperation and for preventing politicized security measures. — If democracies normalize hostile‑force declarations and militaryized judicial shortcuts to counter espionage, that will reshape allied coordination, domestic rights, and how societies defend open institutions against foreign influence.