The Privatization of Intelligence - Term Paper Example

The conventional intelligence cycle is characterized as fragmented and Clark argues for a more conjoined intelligence cycle under what is described as a target-centric approach to intelligence collection and sharing. However, one of the significant post-9/11 changes made to the intelligence cycle was the outsourcing of intelligence to the private sector. The Department of Homeland Security explained that since 9/11 the DHS has enhanced private sector involvement for “facilitating more effective and rapid communication with key organizations” and as a means of “bolstering regionally-focused information sharing efforts”.

Russell argues however, that the intelligence community remains fragmented in that a number of agencies are responsible for collecting intelligence. For example, the National Security Agency is responsible for intercepting and decoding “communications”; the National Geospatial-Intelligence is responsible for analysing satellite images; the Defense Intelligence Agency is responsible for running “military defense attaché collection abroad;and the Department of State oversees the collection of information from diplomats abroad.

Moreover, the CIA has its own collection functions and also recruits spies for the benefit of US security. Complicating matters,the different agencies within the intelligence community have a tendency to jealously guard their information. While putting a tight lid on information can be justified on the grounds that it is too sensitive to risk unauthorised leaks, often times, information “hoarding” is cultivated by “petty bureaucratic rivalries”.8 This is problematic since analysts are required to make informed assumptions on the basis of information received from all the various sources of intelligence.

9 Intelligence that merely informs decision-makers of what is taking place abroad or at home has less intrinsic value than intelligence that informs of what might be happening.10 The outsourcing of intelligence functions to the private sector can only serve to further fragment the collection and