Strategic Intelligence for American National Security: (Paperback with new afterword) [Paperback]

Bruce D. Berkowitz (Author), Allan E. Goodman (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0691023395 | ISBN-13: 978-0691023397 | Publication Date: May 21, 1991

Bruce Berkowitz and Allan Goodman draw on historical analysis, interviews, and their own professional experience in the intelligence community to provide an evaluation of U.S. strategic intelligence.

Editorial Reviews

Review

While covert operations grab the headlines, intelligence analysis, carried out by CIA officers and their colleagues who are more professorial than conspiratorial, is more important to America's security. This is a primer to that analytic function. -- Foreign Affairs

From the Back Cover

"Berkowitz and Goodman have performed a great public service.... Their careful analysis makes a major contribution to the sensible assessment of the problems the intelligence community faces now and in the years ahead."--William E. Colby

"A truly significant achievement.... [This] book should be read carefully by the Director of the CIA and by members of the pertinent Congressional committees."--Zbigniew Brzezinski

Product Details

• Paperback: 264 pages
• Publisher: Princeton University Press (May 21, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0691023395
• ISBN-13: 978-0691023397
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.8 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #775,656 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Still Valuable, Really Solid Basic Stuff, April 7, 2000

By 

Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Strategic Intelligence for American National Security: (Paperback with new afterword) (Paperback)

This is an even-tempered book, combining a good primer of the nature of the intelligence process with some analytically-oriented thoughts on needed improvements. Their appendix listing things that can go wrong at each step of the intelligence cycle is of lasting value, as is their glossary. Their forthcoming book, Best Truth: Intelligence in the Information Age (Yale, April 2000) will assuredly be a major contribution.

4.0 out of 5 stars A Basic Primer on Strategic Intelligence, September 22, 2007

By 

D. S. Thurlow (Alaska) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Strategic Intelligence for American National Security: (Paperback with new afterword) (Paperback)

"Strategic Intelligence for American National Security", first published in 1989, is a solid, if now dated, survey of the means, methods, pitfalls, and lasting importance of strategic intelligence.

Authors Berkowitz and Goodman wrote at a time when countering the Soviet Union was still the number one U.S. security challenge, and when the Iran-Contra scandal was the latest failure of American intelligence. It is a tribute to the quality of their writing, and to the stubborn challenges of the intelligence business, that this book is still valid reading for the general student and for the dedicated professional.

With clear, even-handed prose, the authors guide the reader through the steps of the intelligence cycle: planning, collection, analysis, and dissemination, while addressing the challenges particular to each phase. The authors deserve credit for suggesting plausible fixes as well as pointing out faults. They rightly note that many so-called intelligence failures are equally the fault of the intelligence consumer or decision-maker. Their lengthy discussion of the importance of diligent Congressional oversight of intelligence is both timely and ironic in the wake of the current Global War On Terrorism. An appendix with a checklist of the things that can go wrong with the intelligence cycle is a key takeaway for the intelligence professional.

The current complex threat environment facing the United States, only hinted at in an afterword by the authors, is if anything an even tougher intelligence challenge than the long twilight duel with the Soviets. Likewise, the book does not address the benefits and the shortfalls of the Information Age and networked warfare. Nevertheless, this book is highly recommended to the general student and to the intelligence professional as a good survey.