The 5-page article focuses on state security organization (Stasi, FBI) with massive resources and legal powers, going up against opposition movements with neither. Younger folks might not know that such organizations do such stuff...but to me, the stories read like "mighty army manages to track down and kill a 3-legged cow". Wow! Really? /s
Like most stuff I've read, the essay makes the Stasi out to supreme masters of their craft. Um, no. Remember what happened to East Germany when the Soviet Empire fell? The whole State vanished away like a sand castle in the face of a rising tide. The Stasi, like most such organizations, were a bunch of creepy machismo control-freak thugs with state backing. Their goals were: 1) indulging their own sociopathic inclinations, and 2) keep State backing, while said State lasted. Understanding why states endure or fade away didn't seem to be on their radar. Let alone doing anything to help East Germany endure.