Intelligence in an Insecure World, 2nd Edition
November 2012, Polity
But what exactly is intelligence? Who seeks to develop it and how? What happens to intelligence once it is produced, and what dilemmas does this generate? How can liberal democracies seek to mitigate problems of intelligence, and what do we mean by “intelligence failure?”’ In a fully revised and expanded new edition of their classic guide to the field, Peter Gill and Mark Phythian explore these and other questions. Together they set out a comprehensive framework for the study of intelligence, discussing how ‘intelligence’ can best be understood, how it is collected, analysed, disseminated and acted upon, how it raises ethical problems, and how and why it fails.
Drawing on a range of contemporary examples, Intelligence in an Insecure World is an authoritative and accessible guide to a rapidly expanding area of enquiry - one which everyone has an interest in understanding.
List of Figures, Tables and Boxes
2 How Do We Understand Intelligence?
3 Who Does Intelligence?
4 How Do They Gather Information?
5 How is Information Turned into Intelligence?
6 What Do They Do with the Intelligence?
7 Why Does Intelligence Fail?
8 Can Intelligence be Democratic?
9 Intelligence for a more secure world?
Selected Further Reading
"Gill and Phythian have done it again: produced a comprehensive,
readable, nicely illustrated, and thought-provoking examination of
national security intelligence in today's uncertain and dangerous
world. Want to know all about espionage, covert action, and
counterintelligence? Here's an excellent place to begin."
Loch K. Johnson, University of Georgia
"Gill and Phythian provide the best introduction to the study of
security and intelligence in democratic societies. They have done
so by marrying the rigour of academic analysis with the
accessibility of more popular accounts – no mean trick. The
new edition is not only updated to include the most contemporary
developments, but also expands and deepens the authors’
critical reflections on the state of intelligence in the post-9/11
world. This is a must-read for everyone concerned with security in
the face of terrorism and for democratic freedoms in the face of
the expansion of state security powers."
Reg Whitaker, York University, Ontario