How hard is it really for countries to assassinate political leaders of other countries?

I think we’re past any powerful entity caring what the public knows. We know so much and are still powerless.

But anyone can be found. We’re being spied on and we have satellites that can see the address from your license if visible probably.

Most political leaders are such hopeless buffoons there is no point in assassinating them.

What’s the point of it? Most countries are oligarchically run, so the loss of one man or woman isn’t going to change whatever agenda that person is carrying out.

In most Western countries, there are cadres of wannabe leaders that will jump into the void.

The trick is this, i think. If the assassin wants die as part of the entire assassination project, then it proibably isn’t all that hard. If the assassin wants to live and get away, the degree of difficulty is much much more challenging.

It’s somewhat difficult, but also not a simple question. Consider:

* Who in those “countries” is proposing the assassination? The answer to that comes with the limited resources, authority, legality, etc., of the person or people actually organizing the attempt.

* According to the various factions in the prospective assassin “country”, to they really want to cause the assassination? What will it really change, that they do or do not want? What will happen to the reputation and diplomatic future of a nation which is caught attempting such an assassination?

Only after those considerations, does it start to make sense to consider the people and organizations in the target nation, and how well they can detect and resist assassination attempts.

It can be practically hard, too. The USA has about as many resources for assassination as anyone’s ever had, and was openly trying to kill Osama Bin Laden, Saddam Hussein, and 50+ Al Qaeda leaders, for several years, and it took them quite a while to get to them, even after invading Iraq and Afghanistan!

Clearly, assassinations of national leaders has only very rarely happened, and when it has, it’s usually been a very unpopular event with unpredictable consequences, including World War One. So merely on that basis, it should seem apparent that usually very few people think assassinating the leaders of other nations is a good idea.

It depends on that person’s level of security and the means one might find there to accomplish the task.

Actually not that hard.

According to one source, 132 heads of state have been assassinated since 1900:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_assassinated_and_executed_heads_of_state_and_government

The list includes 6 European monarchs, 2 American Presidents, 1 Italian Prime Minister, and 1 Israeli Prime Minister.

If you include lower level government officials, popular movement leaders and journalists the number balloons to over 2000 for the same period. But in spite of known involvement by US, British, Russian, and at least 6 other foreign security services – most leaders have been eliminated by anti government groups in their own countries.

Almost any protective system guarding any political leader anywhere can be penetrated. BUT – exactly because of that fact most heads of state don’t authorize hits on their counterparts in other countries. The payback would be inevitable.

Ask the CIA, they used to do it it all the time. Never could whack Castro through. LOL I mean exploding
cigars? What Bugs Bunny cartoon did they get that from?

Depends on whether you’re Jim Phelps.

Mission Impossible