I was surfing thru some “Man From UNCLE” sites recently (was a big fan, way back in ’65) and saw an interesting quote from the March, 1967 “Man From Uncle Magazine.” Substitute Al Qaeda for THRUSH, you-know-who for the “mad despot”, and some kind of super-AIDs virus or genetically enhanced anthrax for the “dreadful secret”, and you have a pretty good description of the worst nightmare of modern times:

“Born of madness, nurtured by hate, THRUSH had found the ultimate threat to put the world in its power. Fighting against time, Solo and Illya seek to find the mad despot who has in his hands the key to a dreadful secret — which, once released, spells doom!”

The story in that issue was called “The Hungry World Affair”. Quite prophetic, I’d say.