What do you think?
Rate this book
The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History
This sweeping history of the development of professional, institutionalized intelligence examines the implications of the fall of the state monopoly on espionage today and beyond.
During the Cold War, only the alliances clustered around the two superpowers maintained viable intelligence endeavors, whereas a century ago, many states could aspire to be competitive at these dark arts. Today, larger states have lost their monopoly on intelligence skills and capabilities as technological and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private organizations and even individuals to unearth secrets and influence global events.
Historian Michael Warner addresses the birth of professional intelligence in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent rise of US intelligence during the Cold War. He brings this history up to the present day as intelligence agencies used the struggle against terrorism and the digital revolution to improve capabilities in the 2000s. Throughout, the book examines how states and other entities use intelligence to create, exploit, and protect secret advantages against others, and emphasizes how technological advancement and ideological competition drive intelligence, improving its techniques and creating a need for intelligence and counterintelligence activities to serve and protect policymakers and commanders.
The world changes intelligence and intelligence changes the world. This sweeping history of espionage and intelligence will be a welcomed by practitioners, students, and scholars of security studies, international affairs, and intelligence, as well as general audiences interested in the evolution of espionage and technology.
During the Cold War, only the alliances clustered around the two superpowers maintained viable intelligence endeavors, whereas a century ago, many states could aspire to be competitive at these dark arts. Today, larger states have lost their monopoly on intelligence skills and capabilities as technological and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private organizations and even individuals to unearth secrets and influence global events.
Historian Michael Warner addresses the birth of professional intelligence in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent rise of US intelligence during the Cold War. He brings this history up to the present day as intelligence agencies used the struggle against terrorism and the digital revolution to improve capabilities in the 2000s. Throughout, the book examines how states and other entities use intelligence to create, exploit, and protect secret advantages against others, and emphasizes how technological advancement and ideological competition drive intelligence, improving its techniques and creating a need for intelligence and counterintelligence activities to serve and protect policymakers and commanders.
The world changes intelligence and intelligence changes the world. This sweeping history of espionage and intelligence will be a welcomed by practitioners, students, and scholars of security studies, international affairs, and intelligence, as well as general audiences interested in the evolution of espionage and technology.
426 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2014
12 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
June 11, 2023
In his sweeping history of the development of professional, institutionalized intelligence,
The Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History
, the author, Michael Warner, examines the implications of the fall of the state monopoly on espionage today and beyond.
This is no surprise because the age-old glamour and esotericism of intelligence and espionage is slowly being washed away by technology. During the Cold War, only the alliances clustered around the two superpowers maintained viable intelligence endeavours, whereas a century ago, many states could aspire to be competitive at these dark arts. Today, larger states have lost their monopoly on intelligence skills and capabilities as technological and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private organizations and even individuals to unearth secrets and influence global events.
Since the birth of professional intelligence in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent rise of US intelligence during the Cold War, new intelligence techniques and tradecraft have emerged, for example, the use of the Internet and social media in investigations as portrayed in War in 140 Characters: How Social Media Is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos. The history of present-day intelligence shows a struggle against terrorism and the digital revolution to improve capabilities in the 2000s. Throughout, the book examines how states and other entities use intelligence to create, exploit, and protect secret advantages against others, and emphasizes how technological advancement and ideological competition drive intelligence, improving its techniques and creating a need for intelligence and counterintelligence activities to serve and protect policymakers and commanders.
The world changes intelligence and intelligence changes the world. This sweeping history of espionage and intelligence will be welcomed by practitioners, students, and scholars of security studies, international affairs, and intelligence, as well as general audiences interested in the evolution of espionage and technology. This is an excellent piece of literature to show that states face a great challenge to ensuring national security and holding the fabric as tight as it ought to be.
This is no surprise because the age-old glamour and esotericism of intelligence and espionage is slowly being washed away by technology. During the Cold War, only the alliances clustered around the two superpowers maintained viable intelligence endeavours, whereas a century ago, many states could aspire to be competitive at these dark arts. Today, larger states have lost their monopoly on intelligence skills and capabilities as technological and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private organizations and even individuals to unearth secrets and influence global events.
Since the birth of professional intelligence in Europe at the beginning of the twentieth century and the subsequent rise of US intelligence during the Cold War, new intelligence techniques and tradecraft have emerged, for example, the use of the Internet and social media in investigations as portrayed in War in 140 Characters: How Social Media Is Reshaping Conflict in the Twenty-First Century by David Patrikarakos. The history of present-day intelligence shows a struggle against terrorism and the digital revolution to improve capabilities in the 2000s. Throughout, the book examines how states and other entities use intelligence to create, exploit, and protect secret advantages against others, and emphasizes how technological advancement and ideological competition drive intelligence, improving its techniques and creating a need for intelligence and counterintelligence activities to serve and protect policymakers and commanders.
The world changes intelligence and intelligence changes the world. This sweeping history of espionage and intelligence will be welcomed by practitioners, students, and scholars of security studies, international affairs, and intelligence, as well as general audiences interested in the evolution of espionage and technology. This is an excellent piece of literature to show that states face a great challenge to ensuring national security and holding the fabric as tight as it ought to be.
Read
July 10, 2014Michael Warner, PhD’90
Author
From our pages, July–Aug/14: "As a historian for the US Department of Defense, Michael Warner has an inside perspective on state espionage. Also a former historian for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he details the evolution of information gathering from its emergence around 2000 BC through world wars, cold wars, and into the present day. Warner ends with a forward-looking analysis of intelligence in the Internet age, a new world where 'privacy can be erased.'"
Author
From our pages, July–Aug/14: "As a historian for the US Department of Defense, Michael Warner has an inside perspective on state espionage. Also a former historian for the Central Intelligence Agency and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, he details the evolution of information gathering from its emergence around 2000 BC through world wars, cold wars, and into the present day. Warner ends with a forward-looking analysis of intelligence in the Internet age, a new world where 'privacy can be erased.'"
April 28, 2015
This book is really comprehensive about the history of intelligence and the potential future of intelligence. I really like the fact that he is a very good writer, and that he's very detailed and specific and all his facts, related stories, and periods that go along with them. We're using this as a book in my international security class and it has been my favorite so far. I recommend this book to anyone interested in international security, code breaking, intelligence, or cyber security.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews