National Intelligence Systems
Current Research and Future Prospects

This book takes stock of the underlying intellectual sub-structure of intelligence.

Gregory F. Treverton (Edited by), Wilhelm Agrell (Edited by)

9780521518574, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 June 2009

304 pages, 2 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.57 kg

'An outstanding collection that brings together many of the most talented scholars working on intelligence and security issues today in a wide-ranging survey of the state of the field. The wide range of approaches and the variety of topics covered ensure that this volume will be indispensable for both teaching and research for years to come.' Peter Jackson, Aberystwyth University, UK

A series of investigations, especially in Great Britain and the United States, have focused attention on the performance of national intelligence services. At the same time, terrorism and a broad span of trans-national security challenges has highlighted the crucial role of intelligence. This book takes stock of the underlying intellectual sub-structure of intelligence. For intelligence, as for other areas of policy, serious intellectual inquiry is the basis for improving the performance of real-world institutions. The volume explores intelligence from an intellectual perspective, not an organizational one. Instead the book identifies themes that run through these applications, such as the lack of comprehensive theories, the unclear relations between providers and users of intelligence, and the predominance of bureaucratic organizations driven by collection. A key element is the development, or rather non-development, of intelligence toward an established set of methods and standards and, above all, an ongoing scientific discourse.

1. Introduction Gregory F. Treverton and Wilhelm Agrell
Part I. Defining the Field, Its Theory, Historiography and Changes after the Cold War: 2. Building a theory of intelligence systems Michael Warner
3. Reflections on intelligence historiography since 1939 Christopher Andrew
4. A theory of intelligence and international politics Jennifer Sims
5. Intelligence analysis after the Cold War - new paradigm or old anomalies? Wilhelm Agrell
Part II. Research on New Challenges, Methods and Threats: 6. On counterterrorism and intelligence Neal Pollard
7. Technical collection in the post-9/11 world Jeffrey T. Richelson
Part III. Intelligence, Politics and Oversight: 8. The intelligence-policymaker relationship, and the politicization of intelligence Olav Riste
9. Oversight of intelligence: a comparative approach Wolfgang Krieger
10. The limits of avowal: secret intelligence in an age of public scrutiny Sir David Omand
11. The science of intelligence: reflections on a field that never was Wilhelm Agrell and Gregory F. Treverton.

Subject Areas: International relations [JPS], Comparative politics [JPB], Politics & government [JP], Police & security services [JKSW1]