In the 20th century, political tension and the threat of a third world war often prevented the world's super powers from directly intervening in the poitical affairs of foreign countries. Intelligence agencies set out to do by espionage what in the past had been accomplished by force, namely the overthrow of hostile foreign governments. The American CIA accomplished this objective by training, arming, and inspiring revoutionary elements in countries like Iran, Chile, and Nicaragua. In contemporary times, the bloody revolt of lunar colonists at the Tycho Mining Facility has been linked to subversive activity by agents of the Blue Earth Ecotopian faction.