Intelligence In An Insecure World

by Peter Gill, Mark Phythian

Over a decade on from the terrorist attacks of 9/11, intelligencecontinues to be of central importance to the contemporary world.Today there is a growing awareness of the importance ofintelligence, and an increasing investment in it, as individuals,groups, organizations and states all seek timely and actionableinformation in order to increase their sense of security.

But what exactly is intelligence? Who seeks to develop it and how?What happens to intelligence once it is produced, and what dilemmasdoes this generate? How can liberal democracies seek to mitigateproblems of intelligence, and what do we mean by“intelligence failure?”’ In a fully revised andexpanded new edition of their classic guide to the field, PeterGill and Mark Phythian explore these and other questions. Togetherthey set out a comprehensive framework for the study ofintelligence, discussing how ‘intelligence’ can best beunderstood, how it is collected, analysed, disseminated and actedupon, how it raises ethical problems, and how and why itfails. 

Drawing on a range of contemporary examples,  Intelligencein an Insecure World  is an authoritative and accessibleguide to a rapidly expanding area of enquiry - one which everyonehas an interest in understanding.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published August 28, 2006

Reviews

[Vincent Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a way academic literature opens up your mind to the world view. In Intelligence in an Insecure World by Peter Gill we see a world that is ruled by and through intelligence. If I had not read this book, I would have forever been thinking of conspiracy theories, and even started writing about conspiracies. I can now, without fear of contradiction, say that there are no conspiracies; it's just intelligence operations at work, both covert and overt, driven by international relations. (My next thriller novel will be much better when addressing this issue of intelligence and security.)

The book talks of the role of intelligence in the contemporary world and how it is ubiquitous: individuals, groups and organizations, as well as states seek information in order to increase their sense of security. The events of 9/11 and the subsequent 'war on terror' have made intelligence more central to the study of government and international affairs than at any time previously, reviving old debates and generating new ones.

It answers some questions like what exactly intelligence is. 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.

The most interesting bit for me is intelligence limits and oversight, something that intelligence practitioners will not be comfortable with. I agree with the author that intelligence agencies need oversight; otherwise, they will become 'states' within the state, the law themselves.