Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time [Hardcover]

Robert David Steele (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2006

My personal view is that the key points of the book are that:

• inter-agency sharing of non-secret information is much more important than precision delivery of secrets to the top guy;

• unclassified information on operations, logistics, beliefs, etc. is much more important that technical secret information; and

• there is a larger process called "Information Operations" (IO) that has been mis-defined in the US as offensive cyberwar and PSYOP on steroids, which in fact deals with

• the full and constant integration of global coverage in all languages all the time (including historical and cultural knowledge at the neighborhood level);

• the technologies of sharing, translating, and understanding; inclusive of online video gaming; and

• the crafting of inter-agency BEHAVIOR and BUDGETS (means) in order to achieve useful ends.

In short, it's not about secret intelligence; it is about global awareness and ethical behavior done across all the instruments of national power, wisely. As Dr. Cambone demands, we need universal coverage, 24/7, at sub-state levels of granularity, but we also need to act on that information in a timely as well as ethical manner, utilizing all of our resources, not just our military, and harmoniously integrating our intelligence and operational activities with those of other legitimate governments and non-governmental organizations.

Editorial Reviews

Review

If you value peace and freedom, read "Information Operations" right now. -- Peter Morville, January 17, 2006

Information Peacekeeping enables an organization to leverage a belief system to create action at a distance. -- Dr. Robert Garigue, Canada, January 17, 2006

Steele never fails to surprise me. In my opinion, a MUST read. -- Arne Reuser, Defense & Security Service NL, 17 January 2006

Steele shows us a more mature and intelligence way of [doing intelligence]. -- Steve Edwards, MBE, Scotland Yard UK, 17 January 2006

This book ... expands [on] how a properly integrated approach ... can enhance our success in various "IO-heavy" mission areas. -- Congressman Rob Simmons (R-CT-02), January 17, 2006

This book is a practical manifestation--a technical solution--to the recommendations of the Brahimi Report. -- MajGen Patrick Cammaert, UN Force Commander Eastern Congo, 17 January 2006

This book is about mind-sets and open mindedness. -- Moises Naim, Editor, Foreign Policy, 17 January 2006

This latest book is a treasure trove of good ideas and should be mandatory reading for anyone. --Dr. Loch Johnson, Editor, Intelligence & National Security, 17 January 2006

From the Publisher

This book is the third in the series to date. The first, ON INTELLIGENCE: Spies and Secrecy in an Open World, documented in great detail all that is wrong with the predominantly secret U.S. Intelligence Community--virtually none of the problems have been fixed in the aftermath of 9-11. The second book, THE NEW CRAFT OF INTELLIGENCE: Personal, Public, & Political, outlined a new method of achieving public collective intelligence by harnessing the distributed knowledge of the seven tribes of intelligence (government, military, law enforcement, business, academia, ground truth--non-governmental organizations & the media, and civil--citizens, labor unions, and religions. The secret government intelligence tribe continues to ignore the other six tribes and waste close to $60 billion a year doing things the old way, only with greater waster. This third book is a technical manifestation of the Brahimi Plan, and shows the way to create a World Brain that allows for the optimal access by all citizens and their organizations--including rather uninformed governments--to all information in all languages all the time. As with the first two books, the annotated bibliography is a book unto itself.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 362 pages
• Publisher: OSS International Press; 2nd edition (January 30, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0971566135
• ISBN-13: 978-0971566132
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.2 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.7 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,674,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Information Please!, March 6, 2007

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Retired Reader (New Mexico) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Information Operations: All Information, All Languages, All the Time (Hardcover)

"Information Operations" is an important and original book on how to greatly improve the ability of the U.S. National Security Establishment to cope with the conditions of the 21st Century. Steele, who appears to be something of a maverick, provides nothing short of a brilliant analysis of the national security threats and challenges to U.S. security in the post-Cold War World. Having identified the problem, he proposes a new kind of intelligence program based on, as he himself puts it, "sharing not secrecy" which is predicated on the concept of multinational global intelligence production. To this end, Steele advocates a new U.S. national intelligence system centered on open and international sharing of information (I would say of relevant information) using multi-national "Regional Information Centers" for collection, processing, and analysis of all source information. At the heart of the new system Steele would like to have an "Open Source Agency", presumably where information from the regional centers could be collated, evaluated and disseminated to all interested parties. All in all, a bold and comprehensive proposal that ought to be considered very seriously by the U.S. Intelligence Community. As an added bonus, this book has an annotated bibliography of books that Steele has identified as relevant to this book, which is almost worth the price of admission by itself. It is a book worth reading.

Still this reviewer has to question the primary theme of the book which is based on a quote from Steve Cambone (former Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence) that his objective for intelligence was "....universal coverage, 24/7, in all languages, in near real time, at sub-state levels of granularity...", but the context of this statement is not clear. On the face of it, Cambone is talking complete nonsense. Although we live in the so-called `Information Age', there is a lamentable tendency to confuse information (i.e. anything that conveys meaning) with knowledge (i.e. evaluated information that enhances our understanding of something). My guess would be that Cambone conflated the two terms and then failed to think through the implications of such an impossible and unnecessary objective. In point of fact, a more sensible objective would be to use target knowledge (subject matter expertise) and robust information management systems to transform an ever increasing amount of information into relevant and accurate packages of knowledge that reflect the real needs of the national security establishment. This would use targeted not universal collection of all source information on specific targets such as individuals, groups, and public and private organizations.