The Rise of Intelligence Studies: A Model for Germany?
| Autor: | Uwe M. Borghoff, Alessandro Scheffler Corvaja, Brigita Jeraj |
|---|---|
| Rok vydání: | 2016 |
| Předmět: |
021110 strategic
defence & security studies Computer Networks and Communications Intelligence analysis business.industry Computer science 05 social sciences 0211 other engineering and technologies Military intelligence Intelligence dissemination management Intelligence cycle (target-centric approach) 02 engineering and technology Intelligence cycle management Public relations Security studies 050601 international relations 0506 political science Law Political Science and International Relations Business intelligence Intelligence analysis management Safety Risk Reliability and Quality business Safety Research |
| Zdroj: | Connections: The Quarterly Journal. 15:79-106 |
| ISSN: | 1812-2973 |
| DOI: | 10.11610/connections.15.1.06 |
| Popis: | IntroductionTraditionally, universities have paid little attention to intelligence issues. Even those scholars and institutions specializing on national security and defense only scantly dealt with the intelligence. In the words of Sir Alexander Cadogan, "intelligence studies" used to present a "missing dimension" of international studies.1 This only slowly started to change in the 1980s and 90s: investigations into high-profile intelligence scandals such as Watergate and Iran-Contra, but also the declassification of increasing amounts of intelligence files in the United States and the United Kingdom, led to a growing awareness of the important role of intelligence in international affairs. The first associations of intelligence historians emerged and the first specialized journals appeared on the market.2However, it was not until after the events of September 11, 2001 that interest in the previously little-known discipline exploded: while in 2006, for instance, only four of the twenty-five top-universities in the United States offered courses on intelligence, this has since expanded to more than half.3 At the same time, also universities in France, Israel, Spain, and other countries began to offer coursework and even specialized programs in intelligence issues. This development was driven by researchers, intelligence agencies, and scholars alike. On the side of academics, the wide-ranging consequences of intelligence failures such as 9/11 and the subsequent invasion of Iraq sparked an increased research interest in intelligence as an important and yet underappreciated factor in national decision-making. At the same time, intelligence services themselves started to reflect on these failures and adapted the training of their officers and analysts.4 On the side of students, the salience of the subject and the promising job market accompanying the expansion of intelligence agencies has more and more students interested in building a career in the field of intelligence - and in an education that could best prepare them for this.In a recent review of the state of the field, its most prominent exponents agree that, in the last decade, the discipline has undergone a process of professionalization and established itself as an accepted sub-discipline of security studies. Its most important current research areas include diverse topics such as intelligence failure, politicization of intelligence, questions of oversight, the ethics of intelligence and the connection between national and intelligence cultures.5 This assessment of a thriving Intelligence studies discipline, however, only holds true for the Anglophone world. It is particularly inaccurate for Germany, where intelligence remains an almost inexistent field.6The large numbers of students looking to make a career in intelligence has also led to the emergence of "intelligence schools," particularly in the United States. While "intelligence studies" as a traditional university discipline is geared towards producing students of intelligence, these schools have a more practical focus and are trying to educate future intelligence officials - in particular, analysts.* * * 7 Instead of creating specialists whom intelligence services would then hire for their expertise, these programs-which are usually at the undergraduate or graduate level8-focus on functional knowledge and aim to educate "generalists" who are "trained in the methods and mechanics of intelligence analysis."9 As a consequence of the research conducted at these schools, the subject of intelligence analysis is also increasingly developing into its own sub-discipline in the field.Intelligence Education at a University?This leads directly to one of the most contested and important questions in the discipline: what exactly can and should universities actually offer to the intelligence community in terms of education? As discussed above, the traditional primary channel through which universities catered to the needs of intelligence services used to be the training of specialists - be they political scientists, engineers or linguists. … |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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