100% satisfaction guarantee Immediately available after payment Both online and in PDF No strings attached
logo-home
Introduction to Secret Affairs Lecture Notes (Lectures 1-7) - GRADE 7,5 £8.55   Add to cart

Lecture notes

Introduction to Secret Affairs Lecture Notes (Lectures 1-7) - GRADE 7,5

 122 views  16 purchases
  • Module
  • Institution

Notes on the lectures from the course (2023) Introduction to Secret Affairs. INCLUDES notes from lectures 1-7 (Total: 27 pages).

Last document update: 1 year ago

Preview 3 out of 27  pages

  • September 6, 2023
  • October 27, 2023
  • 27
  • 2023/2024
  • Lecture notes
  • Dr thomas maguire & dr nikki ikani
  • All classes
avatar-seller
Notes on the lectures from the course (2023) Introduction to Secret Affairs. INCLUDES notes from
lectures 1-7 (Total: 27 pages).


Introduction to Secret Affairs Lecture Notes (Lectures 1-7)


Table of Contents

Lecture 1: Introduction 1

Lecture 2: Defining Intelligence & the Intelligence Cycle 3

Lecture 3: National Intelligence Systems 6

Lecture 4: The Intelligence Collection (“the INTs”) 10

Lecture 5: International Intelligence Cooperation 14

Lecture 6: Intelligence Oversight & Ethics 19

Lecture 7: Covert Influence 22

, 1


Lecture 1: Introduction
Why study intelligence?
Intelligence institutions/studying intelligence can:
● Provide a better understanding/develop theories about international & domestic politics &
history (e.g., ULTRA secret in WWII).
● Underpin security decision-making (e.g., counter-terrorism).
● Be at the forefront of international competition.
● Be instruments of state control in society.
● Provide a more professional understanding than journalism & popular culture (i.e., address
misconceptions, conspiracy theories).
➔ What intelligence can & CANNOT do.
➔ Success & failures.
● Hold intrusive institutions responsible (especially in liberal democracies) = restrain, learn
lessons.

What is intelligence?
Intelligence (Warner): Secret, state activity to Contested definition:
understand or influence foreign entities. ● Can be domestic, planned/open, non-state
➔ Boundaries started to blur post-9/11 (e.g., private institutions, political actors).
● Need to think about it more than just
era.
influencing BUT also shaping.
● Strong informational dimension.
● More than entities → individuals
Breaking down intelligence as:
● An informational product.
● Secrecy = secret institutions collecting other’s secrets using secret methods to generate
secret products.
● A process = information becomes intelligence.
➔ Inform consumers to provide decision-advantage, foresight, avoid surprises.
➔ Understanding intentions & capabilities.
➔ Protect citizens, state, party, regime or leader.
➔ Tactical vs. strategic.
● Organisations/bureaucracies (decision-making).
● Surveillance.
➔ Secret intelligence = source of state power (Herman) = decision-advantage, project
influence abroad, increase relative state power domestically.
➔ Supporting politics/security (e.g., business/commercial intelligence).

Products, Processes & Organisations
The intelligence cycle (facilitates well-informed business & security decisions about risks):
1. Planning & direction (e.g., government present intelligence services with certain priorities).
2. Collection.
3. Data processing.
4. Analysis & production.

, 2


5. Dissemination & feedback.

Intelligence types:
● HUMINT = human intelligence.
● SIGINT = signals intelligence
● IMINT/GEOINT = image intelligence/geospatial intelligence.
● OSINT = open-source intelligence.
● MASINT/ELINT = measurements & signatures/electronic intelligence.

Studying Intelligence
Intelligence Studies:
● British School = diplomatic history, need for intelligence to fill “The Missing Dimension”.
● American School = tends towards the social sciences (models & methodologies).
● Anglo-American dominance = changing in the last 15 years.

Paradox of studying secrecy (why do states wish to keep intelligence secret?):
● Avoid causing tensions in society & domestic politics.
● Avoid international embarrassment/diplomatic escalation.
● Protect sources & methods (i.e., reputation; loss of access; adaptation costs).
● Protect secrets/identities (including foreknowledge) from adversaries.
● Enable negotiations (moderate, pragmatic, adopt unpopular positions).
● Bureaucratic resources for vetting & release (lean towards caution).

Cultures of Secrecy (how can we know?)
What sources can we use to research intelligence? What challenges do they pose?
● Archival material (national/state archives).
● Government reports.

Significant variation in source access between countries (i.e., nature of polities & declassification;
domestic & international politics).

Why do governments disclose intelligence & security materials?
● Transparency norms & laws over time.
● National reconciliation post-political change (e.g., Poland, Romania, Algeria).
● To influence particular audiences (e.g., support; action; incriminate; resilience).

Significant variation in source access between countries (e.g., traditions of memoir writing, granting
interviews, civil society, media freedoms, resources for investigative journalism):
● May be significant variation within systems too (e.g., UK’s MI5 vs. SIS).
● Few systems have organised official histories.
● Further empowered by the internet (e.g., whistleblowing laws/norms, leaks, defectors).
● Wide variation in independent oversight accountability, transparency laws (e.g. Freedom of
Information) & bodies to produce public scrutiny/reports.
● Imperfect & biased knowledge/understanding (ethical dilemmas of source access).

The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Guaranteed quality through customer reviews

Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.

Quick and easy check-out

Quick and easy check-out

You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.

Focus on what matters

Focus on what matters

Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!

Frequently asked questions

What do I get when I buy this document?

You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.

Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?

Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.

Who am I buying these notes from?

Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller giacomoef. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.

Will I be stuck with a subscription?

No, you only buy these notes for £8.55. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.

Can Stuvia be trusted?

4.6 stars on Google & Trustpilot (+1000 reviews)

72042 documents were sold in the last 30 days

Founded in 2010, the go-to place to buy revision notes and other study material for 14 years now

Start selling

Recently viewed by you


£8.55  16x  sold
  • (0)
  Add to cart