SPECTRE and the new QUANTUM are always compared, but to me they seem like two different animals. Though they hinted in CR and QOS that it's some type of illegal organization loosely made up of a combination of dirty corporate white collar types, double agents, crooked politicians and other types of economic mercenaries, it's not clear if there is a real leader like Blofeld - though they probably have one. SPECTRE on the other hand, was Fleming's version of an international Mafia type organization made up of ex-members of the Gestapo, SMERSH, Tito's secret police, the Mafia, the Unione Corse, and a massive heroin-smuggling operation based in Turkey. Basically, people who's own organization probably kicked them out for various reasons or simply who had experience working for fascist states. They're basically needed a group that could feed their greedy lifestyle (and probably perverted/sadistic wants) as well as enable them to continue doing the kind of nasty things they did for their former employers. They dressed it all up in a white collar corporate atmosphere to maintain a professional and commercial fascade (as the mob did when Lucky Luciano got all the families to organize together into a pseudo corporate family that began having "board meetings"). QUANTUM to me, at least at present, comes across more as a group of shady business leaders and government officials who work with international scum just to maintain influence and keep lining their pockets.
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