After the war, Haydon holds positions of increasing importance in the Circus, becomes its premier expert on the Soviet Union, and eventually rises to the senior staff of Control, the unnamed Chief of the Circus. In the early years of the Cold War, he limits his espionage activities to 'selected gifts of intelligence' that advance the Soviet cause over the American one without harming British interests. The Suez crisis of 1956 convinces him that Britain has lost all influence as a world power and leads him to become a 'full-time Soviet mole with no holds barred.' In 1961, he formally receives Soviet citizenship, then achieves the rank of Soviet intelligence colonel and is awarded further Soviet decorations over the next ten years.