Overview

In the eighty years since Pearl Harbor, the United States has developed a professional intelligence community that is far more effective than most people acknowledge--in part because only intelligence failures see the light of day, while successful collection and analysis remain secret for decades. Intelligence and the State explores the relationship between the community tasked to research and assess intelligence and the national decision makers it serves. The book argues that in order to accept intelligence as a profession, it must be viewed as a non-partisan resource to assist key players in understanding foreign societies and leaders. Those who review these classified findings are sometimes so invested in their preferred policy outcomes that they refuse to accept information that conflicts with preconceived notions. Rather than demanding that intelligence evaluations conform to administration policies, a wise executive should welcome a source of information that has not ""drunk the Kool-Aid"" by supporting a specific policy decision. Jonathan M. House offers a brief overview of the nature of national intelligence, and especially of the potential for misperception and misunderstanding on the part of executives and analysts. Furthermore, House examines the rise of intelligence organizations first in Europe and then in the United States. In those regions fear of domestic subversion and radicalism drove the need for foreign surveillance. This perception of a domestic threat tempted policy makers and intelligence officers alike to engage in covert action and other policy-based, partisan activities that colored their understanding of their adversaries. Such biases go far to explain the inability of Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union to predict and deal effectively with their opponents. The development of American agencies and their efforts differed to some degree from these European precedents but experienced some of the same problems as the Europeans, especially during the early decades of the Cold War. By now, however, the intelligence community has become a stable and effective part of the national security structure. House concludes with a historical examination of familiar instances in which intelligence allegedly failed to warn national leaders of looming attacks, ranging from the 1941 German invasion of the USSR to the Arab surprise attack on Israel in 1973.

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9781682477724

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Reviews

An excellent overview of intelligence history and a perceptive analysis of the age-old intelligence officer dilemma: how to get the decision-maker to accept intelligence which is not in sync with his perceptions or plans. --Rear Adm. Tom Brooks, author, career intelligence officer, former director of Naval Intelligence Jonathan House sheds new light and understanding on an important, but little understood subject. Threats to national security are expanding and so are demands on the intelligence community. Intelligence and the State explains the essential elements of effective warning and decision at the nexus of senior intelligence professionals and government policymakers. It is a must-read for intelligence professionals and those who depend on or oversee them. --H.R. McMaster, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Battlegrounds and Dereliction of Duty With years of experience in the intelligence community to draw upon, House provides a valuable overview of the complex processes and challenging organizational dynamics involved in this vital endeavor. --Trent Hone, author of Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 and co-author of Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939

Intelligence and the State ... is a valuable primer for intelligence practitioners and their state instrumentality customers. --Australian Naval Institute House provides a fully informed account of the problems faced by intelligence professionals and their consumers in a democratic society. If they wish to better serve the public during these challenging times, the practitioners of intelligence gathering, analysts at all levels, and our political leaders should read and discuss this engaging study. --Matthew Brazil, senior fellow, The Jamestown Foundation and co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage, An Intelligence Primer An excellent overview of intelligence history and a perceptive analysis of the age-old intelligence officer dilemma: how to get the decision-maker to accept intelligence which is not in sync with his perceptions or plans. --Rear Adm. Tom Brooks, author, career intelligence officer, former director of Naval Intelligence Jonathan House sheds new light and understanding on an important, but little understood subject. Threats to national security are expanding and so are demands on the intelligence community. Intelligence and the State explains the essential elements of effective warning and decision at the nexus of senior intelligence professionals and government policymakers. It is a must-read for intelligence professionals and those who depend on or oversee them. --H.R. McMaster, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Battlegrounds and Dereliction of Duty With years of experience in the intelligence community to draw upon, House provides a valuable overview of the complex processes and challenging organizational dynamics involved in this vital endeavor. --Trent Hone, author of Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 and co-author of Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939

An excellent overview of intelligence history and a perceptive analysis of the age-old intelligence officer dilemma: how to get the decision-maker to accept intelligence which is not in sync with his perceptions or plans. --Rear Adm. Tom Brooks, author, career intelligence officer, former director of Naval Intelligence House provides a fully informed account of the problems faced by intelligence professionals and their consumers in a democratic society. If they wish to better serve the public during these challenging times, the practitioners of intelligence gathering, analysts at all levels, and our political leaders should read and discuss this engaging study. --Matthew Brazil, senior fellow, The Jamestown Foundation and co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage, An Intelligence Primer Jonathan House sheds new light and understanding on an important, but little understood subject. Threats to national security are expanding and so are demands on the intelligence community. Intelligence and the State explains the essential elements of effective warning and decision at the nexus of senior intelligence professionals and government policymakers. It is a must-read for intelligence professionals and those who depend on or oversee them. --H.R. McMaster, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Battlegrounds and Dereliction of Duty With years of experience in the intelligence community to draw upon, House provides a valuable overview of the complex processes and challenging organizational dynamics involved in this vital endeavor. --Trent Hone, author of Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 and co-author of Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939

House provides a fully informed account of the problems faced by intelligence professionals and their consumers in a democratic society. If they wish to better serve the public during these challenging times, the practitioners of intelligence gathering, analysts at all levels, and our political leaders should read and discuss this engaging study. --Matthew Brazil, senior fellow, The Jamestown Foundation and co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage, An Intelligence Primer An excellent overview of intelligence history and a perceptive analysis of the age-old intelligence officer dilemma: how to get the decision-maker to accept intelligence which is not in sync with his perceptions or plans. --Rear Adm. Tom Brooks, author, career intelligence officer, former director of Naval Intelligence Jonathan House sheds new light and understanding on an important, but little understood subject. Threats to national security are expanding and so are demands on the intelligence community. Intelligence and the State explains the essential elements of effective warning and decision at the nexus of senior intelligence professionals and government policymakers. It is a must-read for intelligence professionals and those who depend on or oversee them. --H.R. McMaster, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Battlegrounds and Dereliction of Duty With years of experience in the intelligence community to draw upon, House provides a valuable overview of the complex processes and challenging organizational dynamics involved in this vital endeavor. --Trent Hone, author of Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 and co-author of Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939

Intelligence and the State ... is a valuable primer for intelligence practitioners and their state instrumentality customers. --Australian Naval Institute House provides a fully informed account of the problems faced by intelligence professionals and their consumers in a democratic society. If they wish to better serve the public during these challenging times, the practitioners of intelligence gathering, analysts at all levels, and our political leaders should read and discuss this engaging study. --Matthew Brazil, senior fellow, The Jamestown Foundation and co-author of Chinese Communist Espionage, An Intelligence Primer An excellent overview of intelligence history and a perceptive analysis of the age-old intelligence officer dilemma: how to get the decision-maker to accept intelligence which is not in sync with his perceptions or plans. --Rear Adm. Tom Brooks, author, career intelligence officer, former director of Naval Intelligence Jonathan House sheds new light and understanding on an important, but little understood subject. Threats to national security are expanding and so are demands on the intelligence community. Intelligence and the State explains the essential elements of effective warning and decision at the nexus of senior intelligence professionals and government policymakers. It is a must-read for intelligence professionals and those who depend on or oversee them. --H.R. McMaster, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and author of Battlegrounds and Dereliction of Duty With years of experience in the intelligence community to draw upon, House provides a valuable overview of the complex processes and challenging organizational dynamics involved in this vital endeavor. --Trent Hone, author of Learning War: The Evolution of Fighting Doctrine in the U.S. Navy, 1898-1945 and co-author of Battle Line: The United States Navy, 1919-1939 Intelligence and the State would be a welcome addition to any course on intelligence at an undergraduate or graduate level, as it provides both historical depth and contemporary relevance in a compact format. It will also hopefully be read by policy makers and intelligence professionals seeking to avoid some of the errors of their predecessors. -- The Strategy Bridge

Author Information

Jonathan M. House is a retired Army intelligence officer and military historian. He received his doctorate and his commission at the University of Michigan. House served as an intelligence analyst on the Joint Staff during both the 1991 and 2003 conflicts and is the author or co-author of numerous military histories, most notably When Titans Clashed: How the Red Army Stopped Hitler and A Military History of the Cold War (2 vols.).

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