Intelligence and National Security
Intelligence has been called “the hidden dimension” of statecraft. This course is built around the proposition that intelligence has value only when it contributes to wise decision-making. It is structured to benefit any student interested in foreign affairs and national security policy, not merely those interested in “doing” intelligence.
The course seeks to develop an understanding of what intelligence is and the relationship between intelligence and national security decision-making. It includes broad learning objectives addressing the use and abuse of intelligence in pursuit of “decision advantage,” and readings and course discussions include an examination of intelligence failure and intelligence’s effect on policy and decisions in various historical, organizational, and ethical contexts. The course will consider the role of policymakers in the intelligence process. Course meetings will focus on dress intelligence analysis, analytic thinking, and writing for busy decision-makers. The course will introduce the collection disciplines (human intelligence, imagery, signal's intelligence, open source intelligence, etc.); counterintelligence; and covert action. Students will consider moral and ethical dilemmas associated with espionage and other intelligence collection and covert action; reconciling secrecy with democratic government; the source of legal authority to conduct intelligence activity; and the supervision and oversight of intelligence activities in the United States. Students will be introduced to the organization and cultures of representative foreign services (friendly and hostile). Discussions and exercises will draw upon both historical examples and current issues to illustrate methods, principles, and dilemmas in the production, use and impact of intelligence.
Students will be responsible for three book reports, a short paper addressing a historical intelligence success or failure, a longer paper on an intelligence topic selected by the student and approved by the professor, and an attendance/participation grade.