Intelligence & US Foreign Policy

Prerequisites: Instructor-Managed Waitlist & Course Application. Intelligence issues have been at the center of US security policy controversies since Benedict Arnold spied for the British during the American revolution.  In the past two decades, critics have blamed U.S. intelligence agencies for failing to prevent the 9/11 attacks, missing the mark on Iraq’s WMD capabilities, and underestimating the threat posed by Iran’s nuclear programs. Critics also have zeroed in on the collection and covert action side of the intelligence business, questioning the efficacy and morality of harsh interrogation techniques, the disclosure of NSA’s collection capabilities by Edward Snowden, or the implications of cyber for all aspects of intelligence work. 

During and since the Trump administration, allegations of involvement of intelligence agencies in US domestic politics have raised fundamental questions—some old, some new--about the relationship between the intelligence community and policymakers. What role should the intelligence community play in the formulation and implementation of US foreign policy and broader national security strategy?  Should retired senior intelligence officials stay outside the political fray?

Recent major intelligence failures—Russia’s failure to assess the magnitude of Ukrainian resistance and Israel’s flawed assessment of HAMAS’ intentions—have revived the central question faced by all intelligence services: are intelligence failures inevitable—and if not, can they be averted? Through a  review of these and other historical cases, the class will also will consider how one might best define “success” and “failure” in the intelligence business, and who should make these determinations?

This seminar provides an overview of the key elements of the intelligence business: human and technical collection (including cyber), covert action, analysis, and the relationship between the Intelligence Community and policymakers. Course readings focus largely on the period from World War II to the present, with a review of several cases of intelligence failures. It also covers ongoing efforts to reform and improve the U.S. intelligence community and the uneasy role of clandestine and covert intelligence activities in a democracy.

There will be three guest speakers in this course--practitione