Rise and Fall of Intelligence: An International Security History

The author of this book has been teaching intelligence and reading and writing intelligence materials for twenty years as a historian for the Department of Defense, the CIA, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence. He has written this book to share his conclusions and allow them to be debated. Rather than in-depth new research on spying, espionage, or intelligence data, it provides a synthesis of the patterns that emerge collectively from recent research. The author believes that it is important for the US public to understand more about what intelligence is and does. The book is a history of the spying and the intelligence field in modern times (generally, the early 20th century until now). The book has been reviewed by the CIA, the NSA, and other intelligence agencies for security concerns; its goal is not to reveal secrets but to provide a clear sense of intelligence as a business, its history and trends, so that they can be understood and discussed in public. The author's conclusion is that superpower nations briefly had a monopoly on intelligence technologies and the whole field could be kept secret. But digital intelligence tools are now available worldwide to a huge variety of people who have no incentive to restrain themselves in their use, and have been authorized for general use on US citizens, so the American public now needs to understand the intelligence field and what it can do. The book is suitable as a college text or for general readers, and is a core text for political science, law, modern US history, and criminal justice libraries. Annotation ©2014 Ringgold, Inc., Portland, OR (protoview.com)
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 espionage. Recent technological and sociopolitical changes have made it possible for private entities 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, the subsequent rise of US intelligence during the Cold War, and changes in the field ensuing from the struggle against terrorism and the digital revolution. Throughout, the book 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.
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.