حماية الدولة

by David Omand, عمرو الملاح (مترجم)

تدرك الحكومات أن الأمن القومي في الأوضاع المضطربة في بداية هذا القرن، يجب أن يركز على خلق ثقة الجمهور بأن الحياة الطبيعية يمكن أن تستمر حتى في مواجهة التهديدات مثل الإرهاب، والأخطار الطبيعية مثل الأوبئة، وتغيّرات المناخ. ويرى أوماند، استنادًا إلى تجربته الخاصة في الحكومة، أنه في حين أن الأمن العام أمر حيوي للحكومة الجيدة، فإن الحكومة السيئة سينجم عنها الفشل في الحفاظ على العلاقة الصحيحة بين العدالة والحرية والخصوصية والوئام المدني والتدابير الأمنية.

يدرس الكتاب بالتفصيل كيف تساعد الاستخبارات السرية الحكومات على توفير الأمن، لكنه يخاطر أيضًا بإثارة قلق الجمهور بشأن أساليبها. لذلك، يقترح مجموعة من المبادئ الأخلاقية لتوجيه العمل الاستخباري والأمني في إطار حقوق الإنسان، ويفحص القضايا الناشئة عن استخدام الذكاء الحديث التكنولوجيا للوصول إلى مصادر جديدة للمعلومات، ويناقش كيف يمكن توضيح معنى الاستخبارات على أفضل وجه. ويقدم أوماند وجهات نظر جديدة للممارسين وأولئك الذين يعلّمون دراسات الأمن والاستخبارات، كما يسهّل الوصول إلى القضايا الملحّة للسياسة العامة.

Genres: Politics, Nonfiction

403 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another one for the dissertation.

Omand is perhaps the most (unintentionally) amusing writers on state security. Never have I ever encountered an author who likened intelligence services to Tolkien's rangers, keeping the hobbits safe in their hobbit-holes. Bless.

[James Wilkinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Securing the State is an exhaustive - and potentially exhausting - font of information about modern intelligence gathering as it settles into an unsettling age of terrorism, both domestic and foreign. It's also, I think, one for the initiated.

If, like me, you're just some schlub wondering how British intelligence really works, you will find everything you need to know about its structures, workflow and practices here. You'll also find tons more - far more, in fact, than you probably need or want.

Omand's writing is clear, concise and unpretentious, and meticulous in its laying out of even the most rudimentary of information, which is a boon to the layman like me. It's also dry as salted dust, which - coupled with the sheer density of data contained within the cover - can make it tough going.

A good book, but best saved for those who are already genned up on the subject.

[Yana Shevkirova · Rating 4 out of 5]

To an extent, I do agree with the previous review. It's slightly over-optimistic, even naive, in a very subtle way. It is hard to pinpoint what the issue with this book is, but something's definitely not right. It just seems that he is raising more questions than he answers and he's taking the short path, by providing "solutions" to rather obvious and "fixible" issues. When it comes to the paradoxes, dilemmas and controversies, he has no answers or tangible solutions. Not that he's to blame for it, after all no one has yet found the "right way" through the problems of intelligence practice and security threats in general, but Omand definitely sets the bar high and fails to jump over later on.
Nevertheless, it is a good book to read. Valuable referencing material, does expand a lot on the necessity for cooperation (interdepartmental, inter-agency, public and private sectors, etc.) - something that not many books pay attention to. He covers the main issues and writes in a simple way, which makes the book very readable. Worth going through, but one should not expect the "aha" moment at the end.

[Robert Nash]

Well written. Interesting read. Very rooted in the post 9/11 world.