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Seeing The Invisible: National Security Intelligence In An Uncertain Age

Author : Thomas A Quiggin

Publisher : World Scientific

Page : 265 pages

File Size : 25,39 MB

Release : 2007-02-14

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 9814476145

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Book Description

Intelligence is critical to ensuring national security, especially with asymmetric threats making up most of the new challenges. Knowledge, rather than power, is the only weapon that can prevail in a complex and uncertain environment awash with asymmetric threats, some known, many currently unknown. This book shows how such a changing national security environment has had profound implications for the strategic intelligence requirements of states in the 21st century.The book shows up the fallacy underlying the age-old assumption that intelligence agencies must do a better job of connecting the dots and avoiding future failures. It argues that this cannot and will not happen for a variety of reasons. Instead of seeking to predict discrete future events, the strategic intelligence community must focus rather on risk-based anticipatory warnings concerning the nature and impact of a range of potential threats. In this respect, the book argues for a full and creative exploitation of technology to support — but not supplant — the work of the strategic intelligence community, and illustrates this ideal with reference to Singapore's path-breaking Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning (RAHS) program./a



Global Data Shock

Author : Robert Mandel

Publisher : Stanford University Press

Page : 320 pages

File Size : 18,87 MB

Release : 2019-04-09

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 1503608972

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Book Description

Intelligence and security communities have access to an overwhelming amount of information. More data is better in an information-hungry world, but too much data paralyzes individual and institutional abilities to process and use information effectively. Robert Mandel calls this phenomenon "global data shock." He investigates how information overload affects strategic ambiguity, deception, and surprise, as well as the larger consequences for international security. This book provides not only an accessible framework for understanding global data shock and its consequences, but also a strategy to prepare for and respond to information overload. Global Data Shock explores how information overload facilitates deception, eroding international trust and cooperation in the post-Cold War era. A sweeping array of case studies illustrates the role of data shock in shaping global events from the 1990 Iraqi attack on Kuwait to Brexit. When strategists try to use an overabundance of data to their advantage, Mandel reveals, it often results in unanticipated and undesirable consequences. Too much information can lead to foreign intelligence failures, security policy incoherence, mass public frustrations, curtailment of democratic freedoms, and even international political anarchy. Global Data Shock addresses the pressing need for improved management of information and its strategic deployment.



Strategic Warning Intelligence

Author : John A. Gentry

Publisher : Georgetown University Press

Page : 289 pages

File Size : 42,66 MB

Release : 2019-03-01

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 1626166552

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Book Description

John A. Gentry and Joseph S. Gordon update our understanding of strategic warning intelligence analysis for the twenty-first century. Strategic warning—the process of long-range analysis to alert senior leaders to trending threats and opportunities that require action—is a critical intelligence function. It also is frequently misunderstood and underappreciated. Gentry and Gordon draw on both their practitioner and academic backgrounds to present a history of the strategic warning function in the US intelligence community. In doing so, they outline the capabilities of analytic methods, explain why strategic warning analysis is so hard, and discuss the special challenges strategic warning encounters from senior decision-makers. They also compare how strategic warning functions in other countries, evaluate why the United States has in recent years emphasized current intelligence instead of strategic warning, and recommend warning-related structural and procedural improvements in the US intelligence community. The authors examine historical case studies, including postmortems of warning failures, to provide examples of the analytic points they make. Strategic Warning Intelligence will interest scholars and practitioners and will be an ideal teaching text for intermediate and advanced students.



The Evolution of Strategic Foresight

Author : Tuomo Kuosa

Publisher : Routledge

Page : 220 pages

File Size : 16,4 MB

Release : 2016-03-16

Category : Business & Economics

ISBN : 1317032497

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Book Description

Embracing the theory and practice of strategic foresight and illuminating how different schools of thought regard its role in policy making, Tuomo Kuosa describes how something not traditionally considered an independent discipline, is steadily becoming one. In The Evolution of Strategic Foresight he explains how the practice of strategic foresight has long been closely associated with the military and politics. Linking strategic thinking more broadly to futurology, however, it is quite new. Since strategic foresight refers to the practice of generating analyses of alternative futures and strategies, based on available intelligence and foreknowledge, the practice can and should be applied to companies, business sectors, national and trans-national agencies of all descriptions, and to all aspects of public policy making. The author explains its practice in terms of structure, process, and knowledge domains, and examines its methodologies and systems, along with how strategic foresight can be used to produce better knowledge and be more effectively linked to policy making. Using examples from 30 different countries and with access to interviews and workshops involving key experts, The Evolution of Strategic Foresight will be valuable to scholars, educators, students engaged in strategy and future studies, long-range, public policy and urban planners, analysts; risk assessment experts, and consultants, managers and decision makers in many organisations, public and private.



Open Source Intelligence in a Networked World

Author : Anthony Olcott

Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Page : 304 pages

File Size : 44,4 MB

Release : 2012-05-17

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 144118984X

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Book Description

The amount of publicly and often freely available information is staggering. Yet, the intelligence community still continues to collect and use information in the same manner as during WWII, when the OSS set out to learn as much as possible about Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan by scrutinizing encyclopedias, guide books, and short-wave radio. Today, the supply of information is greater than any possible demand, and anyone can provide information. In effect, intelligence analysts are drowning in information. The book explains how to navigate this rising flood and make best use of these new, rich sources of information. Written by a pioneer in the field, it explores the potential uses of digitized data and the impact of the new means of creating and transmitting data, recommending to the intelligence community new ways of collecting and processing information. This comprehensive overview of the world of open source intelligence will appeal not only to practitioners and students of intelligence, but also to anyone interested in communication and the challenges posed by the information age.



Epistemology of Intelligence Agencies

Author : Nicolae Sfetcu

Publisher : MultiMedia Publishing

Page : 78 pages

File Size : 22,14 MB

Release : 2019-04-07

Category : Philosophy

ISBN : 6060332188

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Book Description

About the analogy between the epistemological and methodological aspects of the activity of intelligence agencies and some scientific disciplines, advocating for a more scientific approach to the process of collecting and analyzing information within the intelligence cycle. I assert that the theoretical, ontological and epistemological aspects of the activity of many intelligence agencies are underestimated, leading to incomplete understanding of current phenomena and confusion in inter-institutional collaboration. After a brief Introduction, which includes a history of the evolution of the intelligence concept after World War II, Intelligence Activity defines the objectives and organization of intelligence agencies, the core model of these organizations (the intelligence cycle), and the relevant aspects of the intelligence gathering and intelligence analysis. In the Ontology section, I highlight the ontological aspects and the entities that threaten and are threatened. The Epistemology section includes aspects specific to intelligence activity, with the analysis of the traditional (Singer) model, and a possible epistemological approach through the concept of tacit knowledge developed by scientist Michael Polanyi. In the Methodology section there are various methodological theories with an emphasis on structural analytical techniques, and some analogies with science, archeology, business and medicine. In Conclusions I argue on the possibility of a more scientific approach to methods of intelligence gathering and analysis of intelligence agencies. CONTENTS: Abstract 1 Introduction 1.1. History 2. Intelligence activity 2.1. Organizations 2.2. Intelligence cycle 2.3 Intelligence gathering 2.4. Intelligence analysis 2.5. Counterintelligence 2.6. Epistemic communities 3. Ontology 4. Epistemology 4.1. The tacit knowledge (Polanyi) 5. Methodologies 6. Analogies with other disciplines 6.1. Science 6.2. Archeology 6.3. Business 6.4. Medicine 7. Conclusions Bibliography DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.12971.49445



Constructing Cassandra

Author : Milo Jones

Publisher : Stanford University Press

Page : 389 pages

File Size : 30,55 MB

Release : 2013-08-21

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 0804787158

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Book Description

Constructing Cassandra analyzes the intelligence failures at the CIA that resulted in four key strategic surprises experienced by the US: the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the Iranian revolution of 1978, the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks—surprises still play out today in U.S. policy. Although there has been no shortage of studies exploring how intelligence failures can happen, none of them have been able to provide a unified understanding of the phenomenon. To correct that omission, this book brings culture and identity to the foreground to present a unified model of strategic surprise; one that focuses on the internal make-up the CIA, and takes seriously those Cassandras who offered warnings, but were ignored. This systematic exploration of the sources of the CIA's intelligence failures points to ways to prevent future strategic surprises.





Counterterrorism

Author : Frank Shanty

Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA

Page : 1030 pages

File Size : 47,51 MB

Release : 2012-08-17

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 1598845454

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Book Description

This two-volume set examines modern nation-state legislative, diplomatic, military, and non-military attempts to combat terrorism within and outside state borders. The articles which comprise this comprehensive reference work address counterterrorism efforts employed by the international community prior to and following the events of September 11, 2001. Global terrorism in the 21st century threatens the foundations of secular democracies and directly challenges global security thereby raising new and critical issues that transcend national borders. This two-volume reference carefully examines threats such as Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) terrorism, agro-environmental terrorism, and energy-related terrorism, and discusses technologies and strategies—such as the use of biometrics, data mining, information systems, psychological profiling, and terrorists rehabilitation efforts—to mitigate these threats. Counterterrorism: From the Cold War to the War on Terror provides an easy-to-read discussion of some of the principal issues involved in combating contemporary terrorism. Information is presented in non-technical language, making it appealing to the general reader as well as a solid reference for undergraduate college students and researchers. Following each article are references to other articles of interest and a comprehensive index facilitates access to specific subject material. The second volume includes a compilation of significant national and international treaties, laws, conventions, and protocols that have been implemented in an attempt to counter these ongoing threats to domestic and international security.



Seeing the Invisible

Author : Thomas Quiggin

Publisher : World Scientific

Page : 265 pages

File Size : 12,86 MB

Release : 2007

Category : Political Science

ISBN : 9812704825

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Book Description

Intelligence is critical to ensuring national security, especially with asymmetric threats making up most of the new challenges. Knowledge, rather than power, is the only weapon that can prevail in a complex and uncertain environment awash with asymmetric threats, some known, many currently unknown. This book shows how such a changing national security environment has had profound implications for the strategic intelligence requirements of states in the 21st century.The book shows up the fallacy underlying the age-old assumption that intelligence agencies must do a better job of connecting the dots and avoiding future failures. It argues that this cannot and will not happen for a variety of reasons. Instead of seeking to predict discrete future events, the strategic intelligence community must focus rather on risk-based anticipatory warnings concerning the nature and impact of a range of potential threats. In this respect, the book argues for a full and creative exploitation of technology to support ? but not supplant ? the work of the strategic intelligence community, and illustrates this ideal with reference to Singapore's path-breaking Risk Assessment and Horizon Scanning (RAHS) program.