Reshaping National Intelligence for an Age of Information (RAND Studies in Policy Analysis) [Hardcover]

Gregory F. Treverton (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 052158096X | ISBN-13: 978-0521580960 | Publication Date: May 7, 2001 | Edition: 1

In a bold and penetrating study, Gregory Treverton, former Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council and Senate investigator, offers his insider's views on how intelligence gathering and analysis must change. Treverton suggests why intelligence needs to be contrarian and attentive to the longer term. Believing that it is important to tap expertise outside government to solve intelligence problems, he argues that involving colleagues in the academy, think tanks, and Wall Street befits the changed role of government from doer to convener, mediator, and coalition-builder. Hb ISBN (2001): 0-521-58096-X

Editorial Reviews

Review

"This is a 'must-read' book for every senior official in American intelligence agencies and for their policy and congressional overseers. Provocative and replete with evaluations and recommendations that will be highly controversial among intelligence officers, Reshaping National Intelligence offers a comprehensive blueprint for restructuring U.S. intelligence for the post-cold war world, a restructuring the author persuasively argues is essential as tactical military requirements multiply, decision-makers are inundated with publicly available information of varying reliability, and traditional secret intelligence sources no longer shed light on many contemporary issues of importance." Robert M. Gates, Pacific Council on International Policy, Former Deputy Director of CIA --

Book Description

In this bold and penetrating study, Gregory Treverton, former Vice Chair of the National Intelligence Council and Senate investigator, offers his insider's views on how intelligence gathering and analysis must change. He suggests why intelligence needs to be both contrarian, leaning against the conventional wisdom, and attentive to the longer term, leaning against the growing shorter time horizons of Washington policy makers. He urges that the solving of intelligence puzzles tap expertise outside government--in the academy, think tanks, and Wall Street--to make these parties colleagues and co-consumers of intelligence, befitting the changed role of government from doer to convener, mediator, and coalition-builder.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press; 1 edition (May 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 052158096X
• ISBN-13: 978-0521580960
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,691,086 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Core Reference for Intelligence Reform in 2001, July 5, 2001

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reshaping National Intelligence for an Age of Information (RAND Studies in Policy Analysis) (Hardcover)

There are other books on intelligence reform--the best being those by Bruce Berkowitz and Allan Goodman and by Loch Johnson--but this book is very special because it is written by an insider who has come to grips with the imperative for change and who is able to articulate the case for change in a way that others have not. This is arguably the single best and most elegant presentation for why our $30 billion a year intelligence industry must be turned upside down and shift resources away from secret satellite technology and toward analysis, analytic tools, and access to open sources of information.

The author very correctly focuses on the fact that intelligence is about getting useful tailored information to the policy consumer, not about secrets per se. He is perhaps the best spokesperson for the view that the old paradigm--collecting secrets at great expense about a single enemy--must be replaced by the new paradigm--making sense of vast quantities of information that is not secret and covers a diversity of constantly changing targets. He correctly focuses on the selection and intelligent analysis of information rather than the collection of isolated secrets--on making the most of open information.

The book is rich with anecdotal examples and makes a compelling case for dismantling the current intelligence stovepipes while simultaneously dismantling the culture of secrecy that prevents the sharing of useful information, not just within the Nation (e.g. with state and local law enforcement) but with coalition government and non-government allies of the moment.

The author, a past Vice Chairman of the National Intelligence Council and a learned man with deep ties to Harvard, the Council on Foreign Relations, and RAND, concludes on a bitter-sweet note that demands Congressional and Presidential reflection. He firmly believes that both the intelligence community budget and as much intelligence analysis as possible should be made public and be in the public service. This book is highly recommended, and could-together with the the other intelligence reform books published in the past two years--reasonably be used as the starting point for a complete make-over of the U.S. Intelligence Community.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential to Understanding Intelligence Challenges, April 6, 2006

By 

Ronald A. Woodward "Retired Intelligence Analyst" (Washington DC USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Reshaping National Intelligence for an Age of Information (RAND Studies in Policy Analysis) (Paperback)

Greg Treverton has written a much needed overview of the national intelligence process and correctly identified the challenges which face the US, in a post-9/11 world. His views of the world beyond 2010 are quite revealing and his challenges to the intelligence community to assess threats to the US are precisely focused. His views on the major intelligence entities reveal urgent modifications of structure and process, if the intelligence community is going to regain relevance with national customers. As a teacher of intelligence process, specifically as it relates to strategic warning, I believe this book is essential reading for anyone who aspires to be a true intelligence professional. This book will help even the wisest analyst understand how to maximize available sources and methods. The quest to provide the best possible intelligence is a goal which must be achieved.