Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
Intelligence agencies spend huge sums of money to collect and analyze vast quantities of national security data for their political leaders. How well is this intelligence analyzed, how often is it acted on by policymakers, and does it have a positive or negative effect on decision making? Drawing on declassified documents, interviews with intelligence veterans and policymakers, and other sources, The Image of the Enemy breaks new ground as it examines how seven countries analyzed and used intelligence to shape their understanding of their main adversary. The cases in the book include the Soviet Union's analysis of the United States (and vice versa), East Germany's analysis of West Germany (and vice versa), British intelligence in the early years of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, Israeli intelligence about the Palestinians, Pakistani intelligence on India, and US intelligence about Islamist terrorists.
These rivalries provide rich case studies for scholars and offer today's analysts and policymakers the opportunity to closely evaluate past successes and failures in intelligence analysis and the best ways to give information support to policymakers. Using these lessons from the past, they can move forward to improve analysis of current adversaries and future threats.
Synopsis
This work concerns intelligence analysis of adversaries by seven countries, the role of intelligence analysis during the Cold War, and its role in other important regional conflicts after 1945. It seeks to use Cold War and contemporary examples to determine how well intelligence has been analyzed and handled by different intelligence services and policymakers. The book reaches conclusions about past cases in intelligence analysis and how best to analyze intelligence and present it to policymakers today. The book also examines how well policymakers have received and understood intelligence. In sum, the volume analyzes how effective intelligence has been in the policymaking process. It will be a leading text on the analyst/policymaker relationship. The historical cases examined are the Soviet Union's analysis of the United States (and vice versa), East Germany's analysis of West Germany (and vice versa), British intelligence on the early years of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, Israeli intelligence on the Palestinians, Pakistani intelligence on India, and US intelligence about Islamist terrorists.
Synopsis
Drawing on sources only available since the Cold War ended, The Image of the Enemy breaks new ground as it examines how seven countries gathered, analyzed, and used intelligence to deepen their understanding of their adversaries.