Table of Contents

What Is “Intelligence”?
Why Have Intelligence Agencies?
What Is Intelligence About?
The Development of U.S. Intelligence
Major Themes
Major Historical Developments
The U.S. Intelligence Community
Alternative Ways of Looking at the Intelligence Community
The Many Different Intelligence Communities
Intelligence Community Relationships That Matter
The Intelligence Budget Process
The Intelligence Process--A Macro Look: Who Does What For Whom?
Requirements
Collection
Processing and Exploitation
Analysis and Production
Dissemination and Consumption
Feedback
Thinking About the Intelligence Process
Collection and the Collection Disciplines
Overarching Themes
Strengths and Weaknesses
Conclusion
Analysis
Major Themes
Analytical Issues
Intelligence Analysis: An Assessment
Counterintelligence
Internal Safeguards
External Indicators and Counterespionage
Problems in Counterintelligence
Covert Action
The Decision-Making Process
The Range Of Covert Actions
Issues in Covert Action
Assessing Covert Action
The Role of the Policy Maker
The U.S. National Security Policy Process
Who Wants What?
The Intelligence Process: Policy and Intelligence
Oversight and Accountability
Executive Oversight Issues
Congressional Oversight
Issues in Congressional Oversight
Internal Dynamics of Congressional Oversight
Conclusion
The Intelligence Agenda: Nation States
The Primacy of the Soviet Issue
The Emphasis on Soviet Military Capabilities
The Emphasis on Statistical Intelligence
The “Comfort” of a Bilateral Relationship
Collapse of the Soviet Union
Intelligence and the Soviet Problem
The Current Nation State Issue
The Intelligence Agenda: Transnational Issue
U.S. National Security Policy and Intelligence after the Cold War
Intelligence and the New Priorities
Conclusion
Ethical and Moral Issues In Intelligence
General Moral Questions
Issues Related to Collection and Covert Action
Analysis-Related Issues
Oversight-Related Issues
The Media
Conclusion
Intelligence Reform
The Purpose of Reform
Issues in Intelligence Reform
Conclusion
Foreign Intelligence Services
Britain
China
France
Israel
Russia
Conclusion
Appendix 1: Additional Bibliographic Citations and Web Sites
Appendix 2: Major Intelligence Reviews or Proposals

About the Author

Mark M. Lowenthal has over forty-four years of experience in U.S. intelligence. He has served as the Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production, Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council, staff director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, office director and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the State Department′s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and Senior Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy at the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. He is now the President and CEO of the Intelligence & Security Academy, an education and consulting firm. Dr. Lowenthal received his BA from Brooklyn College and his PhD in history from Harvard University. He serves as an adjunct professor at the Johns Hopkins University; the National Intelligence University; Sciences Po (Paris); and the Norwegian Defence Intelligence School. He was an adjunct at Columbia University from 1993–2007.

Reviews

Mark Lowenthal’s Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, now in its fourth edition, is the go-to book for the most comprehensive overview on the U.S. intelligence community. Intelligence processes, policy, and organization are clearly and concisely described, providing those who study intelligence with a complete picture of the IC and its relationship with the executive and legislative branches to date in the evolving, dynamic and highly politicized post-9/11 world of intelligence. I highly recommend this book to academics and practitioners alike! It is a great resource
*Michael Bennett*

Since 9/11, much attention within the United States and abroad has been focused on the problems within the intelligence community. Lowenthal’s book offers a superior framework for understanding the structure of the intelligence community and the challenges it faces. The fourth edition will bring new insights into some of the most current controversies involving the intelligence community and U.S. policymakers--such as the Valerie Plame case and the ‘Curveball’ incident
*Catherine Lotrionte*

Lowenthal’s Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, now in its fourth edition, remains the best introduction to the role of the United States intelligence community in the national security policy making process. Popular with academics and practitioners alike, it is the standard text for many university level intelligence and national security courses. Clear, concise, and thoroughly updated to reflect recent changes in the intelligence community, this book demystifies the intelligence process and places it in a contemporary perspective that the general reader also will find informative
*Kenneth R. Dombroski*

Lowenthal’s Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy remains the mainstay in my undergraduate political science course on intelligence and international security. It strikes an impressive balance between breadth and depth, attending to the important conceptual and political themes, while providing cogent accounts of the unique analytical, organizational, and strategic problems of intelligence policy, all of which are supported by illuminating figures and illustrations and vivid historical examples. The suggestions for further readings at the end of the chapters are gold-mine for students looking to go deeper into particular questions or to bolster their research papers, and a useful reference point for instructors as well
*Timothy Crawford*