Book Review
How China’s Spies Fooled an America That Wanted to be Fooled
Julian Ku Thu, Mar 30, 2023, 8:16 AM
A review of Alex Joske, “Spies and Lies: How China’s Greatest Covert Operations Fooled the World” (Hardie Grant, 2022).
Latest in intelligence
Intelligence Oversight
U.S. Intelligence Community Releases 2021 Annual Threat Assessment
Bryce Klehm Tue, Apr 13, 2021, 2:44 PM
Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines released the U.S. intelligence community’s unclassified 2021 Annual Threat Assessment today.
Politics & National Security
Support for U.S. Intelligence Continues, Despite Presidential Attacks and Concerns Over Transparency
Steve Slick, Joshua Busby Mon, Sep 21, 2020, 1:10 PM
The Chicago Council on Global Affairs recently published the results from the third round of an annual poll, sponsored by the University of Texas at Austin’s Intelligence Studies Project, which aims to shed light on Americans’ perceptions of the intelligence community.
Civil Liberties and Constitutional Rights
The Evolution of DHS Intelligence Review Policy
Tia Sewell, Benjamin Wittes Fri, Aug 14, 2020, 3:08 PM
New documents shed light on how the intelligence and analysis unit at DHS was unleashed.
Office of the Director of National Intelligence
Is the Trump Administration Unduly Influencing the Intelligence Community?
Scott R. Anderson, Benjamin Wittes Thu, May 14, 2020, 11:35 AM
We’re using FOIA to find out if the intelligence community feels like it’s being pressured to reach certain conclusions—and, if so, how that’s impacting employee morale.
Executive Power
NSPM-7: "Integration, Sharing, and Use of National Security Threat Actor Information to Protect Americans"
Robert Chesney Wed, Oct 11, 2017, 9:30 AM
[Update: A knowledgeable contact confirms my sense that NSPM-7 should be viewed in continuity with long-standing efforts within the IC to develop technical architectures for sharing identity-specific information about suspected security threats. Those efforts trace back to, among other things, the 2008 issuance of NSPD-59/HSPD-24, which dealt with biometrics relating to terrorism-related threats. As noted below, the idea with NSPM-7 is to extend a similar approach to other categories of national security threat.
Intelligence Studies Essay
The Intelligence Studies Essay: "After you, Alphonse," or Why Two Different Intelligence Agencies Now Attend National Security Council Meetings, Whether It Matters, and How to Mitigate the Potential Hazards
Steve Slick Thu, Jul 27, 2017, 10:37 AM
Steve Slick is a clinical professor at the LBJ School of Public Affairs and directs the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas-Austin. He was a member of CIA’s clandestine service, and served as a special assistant to President George W. Bush and the NSC’s Senior Director for Intelligence Programs and Reform. This essay was reviewed and approved by the CIA’s Publications Review Board.
Book Reviews
Getting It Right for the First Customer
J. Paul Pope Wed, Oct 26, 2016, 9:24 AM
PDF version
Review of David Priess's The President’s Book of Secrets: The Untold Story of Intelligence Briefings to America’s Presidents from Kennedy to Obama (PublicAffairs, 2016).
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Scholarship
Announcing the Results of the 2015 Bobby R. Inman Award Competition (for student research and writing on intelligence)
Robert Chesney Fri, Aug 7, 2015, 5:54 PM
I am happy to report the results of the 2015 “Bobby R. Inman Award” competition for student research and writing on intelligence, sponsored by the Intelligence Studies Project at the University of Texas at Austin.