Editing Cornelius Vander Starr (section)

==CIA and OSS Connections==
Starr’s involvement with the [[Office of Strategic Services]] (OSS), the predecessor to the CIA, during World War II is a significant aspect of his career, reflecting his role in intelligence and geopolitical strategy. In 1943, Starr collaborated with [[William J. Donovan]], the head of the OSS, to establish the OSS Insurance Intelligence Unit, a secretive operation that leveraged the global reach of the insurance industry to gather intelligence. This unit, part of the OSS’s elite counterintelligence branch X-2, utilized insurance data to identify strategic targets, such as factories, bridges, and cargo ships critical to the Axis powers, particularly Nazi Germany. The unit’s work provided critical information, including pothole counts for invasion routes and population data for targeted areas, aiding Allied efforts to disrupt enemy operations.

Starr also served as the chief operative supporting [[Claire Chennault]], a former U.S. Army Air Force officer who led the OSS-backed American Volunteer Group, known as the “Flying Tigers.” This group conducted covert operations against Japanese forces in China without a formal declaration of war, aiming to bolster Generalissimo [[Chiang Kai-shek]]’s Nationalist government against Japanese aggression. Starr and the OSS later supported Chiang over Communist leader Mao Zedong in the Chinese Civil War, reflecting Starr’s alignment with U.S. anti-communist efforts in Asia.

After World War II, Starr’s OSS connections continued to influence his business. He hired OSS captain Duncan Lee, a lawyer, as AIG’s long-term general counsel, a move that strengthened the company’s ties to U.S. intelligence networks. When Mao’s Communist forces advanced on Shanghai in 1949, Starr relocated AIG’s headquarters to New York City, a decision likely informed by his intelligence background and geopolitical foresight.