The false promise of covert regime change -- Causes : why do states launch regime changes? -- Conduct : why do states intervene covertly versus overtly? -- Consequences : how effective are covert regime changes? -- Overview of U.S.-backed regime changes during the Cold War -- Fostering communist heresy in Eastern Europe -- Containment, coup d'etat and the covert war in Vietnam -- Dictators and democrats in the Dominican Republic -- Covert regime change after the Cold War.