Intelligence in an Insecure World

But what exactly is intelligence? Who seeks to develop it and how? What happens to the intelligence that is produced? This timely new book explores these and other key questions. Concentrating on the role of states and organizations, and using the post–9/11 security agenda as its key focus, it offers an authoritative and accessible guide to the relationship between intelligence and processes of public and private governance.

Drawing on a range of contemporary examples, the book examines the limits of intelligence and asks whether the 9/11 attacks, the bombings in London and the failure to find weapons of mass destruction in Iraq may be seen as intelligence 'failures'? It concludes by discussing the need for democratic control of intelligence to prevent its future abuse by unaccountable state or corporate agencies.

Preface.

Abbreviations.

1 What is Intelligence?

Defining Intelligence.

Evolution.

Limitations.

Significance.

Conclusion: Towards a Theory of Intelligence.

2 How Do We Understand Intelligence?

Introduction.

The Critique of Positivism.

The Challenge of Postmodernism.

Critical Realism: Neither Positivist nor Postmodernist.

Agency and Structure.

Surveillance: Knowledge and Power.

Conclusion: a Map for Theorising and Researching Intelligence.

3 Who Does Intelligence?

Introduction: Security Networks.

Mapping Intelligence Networks.

State sector.

Corporate sector.

Communitarian sector.

Cross–sectoral networks.

Making Security Networks Work.

Conclusion.

4 How Do They Gather Information?

Introduction.

Planning and Direction.

Open Sources.

Secret Sources.

HUMINT: human intelligence.

SIGINT: signals intelligence.

IMINT: imagery intelligence.

HUMINT Vs. SIGINT: The Post–9/11 Debate.

Gathering and Hunting: an erosion of boundaries?

The Predator: a vision of the future?

Extraordinary rendition.

Conclusion.

5 What Do They Do With the Information Gathered?

Introduction.

Analysis.

'No good will come of this': Problems with Dissemination.

Where intelligence Turns into Action: the Intensification of Surveillance.

Conclusion.

6 Why Does Intelligence Fail?

Introduction.

The Limits of Intelligence.

Failure Located in Collection and Analysis.

The Policy Maker–Intelligence Interface as a Site of Intelligence Failure.

Politicisation of Intelligence.

The 9/11 Commission Report: Explaining Intelligence Failure?

The 7 July 2005 London Bombings: An Intelligence Failure?

Conclusion.

7 Iraqi WMD: What Kind of Intelligence Failure?

Introduction.

US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence.

The Butler Inquiry.

Political pressure on the JIC.

Australian Inquiries.

Conclusion.

8 Can Intelligence be Democratic?

Introduction.

Defining Control, Review and Oversight.

The Legal and Ethical Bases of Oversight.

Organising External Oversight.

Parliamentary Oversight: the Case of the UK.

Extra–Parliamentary Oversight.

Media, NGOs and citizens.

Conclusion.

9 Intelligence for a More Secure World?

Notes.

Bibliography.

Index.

Mark Pythian is Professor of International Security at the University of Wolverhampton.