Truth to Power

2019 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Policy Issue ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Government ◽  
Intelligence Support ◽  
The Cold War

This first-ever history of the US National Intelligence Council (NIC) is told through the reflections of its eight chairs in the period from the end of the Cold War until 2017. Coeditors Robert Hutchings and Gregory Treverton add a substantial introduction placing the NIC in its historical context going all the way back to the Board of National Estimates in the 1940s, as well as a concluding chapter that highlights key themes and judgments. The historic mission of this remarkable but little-understood organization is strategic intelligence assessment in service of senior American foreign policymakers. It has been at the center of every critical foreign policy issue during the period covered by this volume: helping shape America’s post–Cold War strategies, confronting sectarian conflicts around the world, meeting the new challenge of international terrorism, and now assessing the radical restructuring of the global order. Each chapter places its particular period of the NIC’s history in context (the global situation, the administration, the intelligence community) and assesses the most important issues with which the NIC grappled during the period, acknowledging failures as well as claiming successes. With the creation of the director of national intelligence in 2005, the NIC’s mission mushroomed to include direct intelligence support to the main policymaking committees in the government. The mission shift took the NIC directly into the thick of the action but may have come at the expense of weakening its historic role of providing over-the horizon strategic analysis.

The Growth of Intelligence Contracting in the Post-Cold War Era

2019 ◽  
pp. 76-117
Author(s):  
Damien Van Puyvelde
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Private Sector ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
War On Terrorism ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Global War On Terrorism ◽  
Technology Revolution ◽  
Cold War Era ◽  
The Government ◽  
Global War

This chapter charts and explains the rise of intelligence outsourcing in the post-Cold War era. In the 1990s, the private sector led the information technology revolution and became an indispensable asset for the intelligence community. Meanwhile government policies downsized the government intelligence workforce and a number of experienced officials moved to the private sector. Intelligence contracting boomed in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks because the private sector offered a pool of knowledge and capabilities that managers deemed necessary at the time. The government hired thousands of contractors to intensify the national intelligence effort rapidly, and outsourcing diversified to an unprecedented level. In the atmosphere of emergency that characterized the early days of the global war on terrorism, this expansion was not planned, and a variety of contractors related to the intelligence community in ways that were not always harmonious and economically viable.

The Genocide Convention and Cold War Humanitarian Intervention

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Dunne ◽  
Eglantine Staunton
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Turning Point ◽  
Humanitarian Intervention ◽  
Genocide Convention ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Host State ◽  
State Practice ◽  
History Of ◽  
State Consent ◽  
The Cold War

It is conventional in IR literature to observe a sharp break between the Cold War and post-Cold War phases in the evolution of human protection norms. The chapter revisits these arguments in conjunction with the cases of India in Pakistan, Vietnam in Cambodia, and Tanzania in Uganda, where unilateral interventions had humanitarian effects but neither humanitarian justifications nor external legitimation. The predominant view regarding these cases is correct; namely, no evidence can be found for the emergence of a norm of legitimate intervention for protection reasons (in the absence of host state consent). However, this perspective underestimates the extent to which there was a consolidation of norms regarding state responsibilities and how these influenced state practice during the post-1945 period. The end of the Cold War should be seen as less of a stark turning point in the history of responsible sovereignty than has previously been believed.

End of the Cold War and the Continuation of Reform

2019 ◽  
pp. 62-90
Author(s):  
David P. Oakley
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
National Security ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
Military Operations ◽  
Intelligence Reform ◽  
Intelligence Support ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Over Time

The momentum for DoD intelligence reform quickly expanded into the broader Intelligence Community and Congress. The executive and legislative branches worked to improve intelligence support to military operations. Although many recommended reform measures were not initially instituted, the actions of a handful of individuals kept the discussion of intelligence reform and support to military operations alive. Over time, many of the issues that were not initially embraced found increased support as national security conditions changed and the requirement of support to military operations became immediate.

2. The Historical Evolution of the International Community

2020 ◽  
pp. 20-44
Author(s):  
Paola Gaeta ◽  
Jorge E. Viñuales ◽  
Salvatore Zappalà
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Law ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Historical Evolution ◽  
World War ◽  
History Of ◽  
Independent States ◽  
History Of International Law ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter traces the historical evolution of the international legal system, which is organized for analytical purposes in four major stages: from its gradual emergence (sixteenth–early seventeenth century) to the First World War; from the establishment of the League of Nations to the end of the Second World War (1919–1945); from the establishment of the United Nations to the end of the Cold War (1945–1989); and the last three decades since the end of the Cold War (1990–2020). The chapter emphasizes the European roots of international law but also the pressure it has faced since the 1960s to reflect the interests of developing and newly independent States. It also provides some basic historical elements and references to the growing literature on the history of international law, which are useful to understand the historical context of the material examined in subsequent chapters.

scholarly journals International Terrorism and the Clash of Civilizations

2009 ◽  
Vol 39 (4) ◽  
pp. 711-734 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eric Neumayer ◽  
Thomas Plümper
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Structural Break ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
Clash Of Civilizations ◽  
Strategic Value ◽  
The Government ◽  
Islamic Civilization ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Terrorist Acts ◽  
The Empirical Analysis

Huntington referred to a ‘clash of civilizations’ revealing itself in international terrorism, particularly in the clash between the Islamic civilization and the West. The authors confront his hypotheses with ones derived from the strategic logic of international terrorism. They predict more terrorism against nationals from countries whose governments support the government of the terrorists’ home country. Like Huntington, they also predict excessive terrorism on Western targets, not because of inter-civilizational conflict per se, but because of the strategic value of Western targets. Contra Huntington, their theory does not suggest that Islamic civilization groups commit more terrorist acts against nationals from other civilizations in general, nor a general increase in inter-civilizational terrorism after the Cold War. The empirical analysis – based on estimations in a directed dyadic country sample, 1969–2005 – broadly supports their theory. In particular, there is not significantly more terrorism from the Islamic against other civilizations in general, nor a structural break in the pattern of international terrorism after the Cold War.

scholarly journals From Land-Locked to Land-Linked?

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-56
Author(s):  
Ashley Scott Kelly ◽  
Xiaoxuan Lu
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Political Transitions ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Mekong Region ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Cold War ◽  
Historical Periods

AbstractThis chapter, From land-locked to land-linked? Laos within a continuum of connectivity in the Mekong region, constructs a history of infrastructure-building in Laos understood through economic connectivity. This chapter challenges the dominant narrative of a de-historicized, often linear progression from land-locked to land-linked or from isolation to integration by contextualizing the contemporary imaginations and developments of Laos within the broader social, economic and political transitions across the Mekong region. We examine the malleable identities of “Laos,” “border” and “infrastructure” in the strategic importance of the Mekong region and the struggles to control and reshape its interconnectivity, especially during the period between colonial-era obscuration and more recent revitalization of the Southern Silk Road. Rather than comprehensive or strictly chronological, this chapter focuses on three loosely defined historical periods: the colonial period from the mid-nineteenth to mid-twentieth century, the Cold War period from the mid-twentieth century to late 1980s, and the post-Cold War period from the late 1980s until the present day. We ground the distinct histories of these periods in discourses specific to their times and places, each with their own geographic conception of the Mekong region and particular combination of socioeconomic and geopolitical imperatives driving investment in large-scale infrastructure projects.

scholarly journals Strategic Interest and Media: A Global Perspective

PREDESTINASI ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (2) ◽  
pp. 93
Author(s):  
Davina Nyiam
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Global Perspective ◽  
National Interests ◽  
Security Forces ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
The Past ◽  
Psychological Warfare ◽  
The Media ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Cold War

Media has also been used as psychological warfare and a propaganda tool, particularly during times of wars and acts of insurgency. It has been used as a tool while fighting the wars and boosting the morale of the security forces across the nations. Propaganda, although it has existed almost indefinitely, has grown immensely during the past few centuries as a most strategic tool to guard the strategic interests of the nations. The propaganda was bolstered by the invention of the radio. The ability to communicate orally with a large number of people in a very small amount of time also helped the development of propaganda. This form of mass media has been used as the most effective tool with the government agencies to put forth their news and views. Radio has strategically suited governments across the globe to fight psychological wars by airing propaganda into the territories of the neighbouring countries. Since Radio is affordable and speaks in a local language and customs to a very common man, it has definitely an edge over other formats of communication when it comes to the question of guarding the strategic interests of a nation. This research discusses and deals with the strategic interests and the media and how radio has especially been used worldwide as a tool by a number of countries to safeguard their national interests. This chapter touches upon some theories and elements of propaganda, the use of radio during world wars and how countries guarded their strategic interests in the Cold War and Post-Cold War era.

Critical analysis of American representations of Russians

Pragmatics ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 263-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leena M. Tomi
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
Historical Context ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
Power Structures ◽  
Social Phenomena ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Symbolic Control ◽  
Perceived Reality ◽  
The Cold War

Cultural differences have been shown to be social phenomena, arising in a complex reciprocal relationship between social actors and historical context. National character descriptions have also been shown to do ideological work. Language plays a crucial role in the construction of perceived reality, including perceived differences, and in the support of power structures. This study uses critical language analysis to uncover ideological frameworks behind cultural descriptions Americans have constructed of Russians. First, I will argue that American images of Russians became reified during the Cold War forming crucial building blocks in the ideological war between communism and anti-communism. I will show that linguistic strategies known to be used to gain symbolic control over the Other shaped these descriptions. I will then turn to the post-Cold War era and examine whether the change in ideological climate is reflected in current descriptions. The analysis shows the old descriptions and their familiar vocabulary to persist. Underlying reasons for the continued acceptance of the old descriptions are explored.

Tinkering with Failure (1991–2001)

Special Duty ◽  
2019 ◽  
pp. 134-161
Author(s):  
Richard J. Samuels
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Cold War ◽  
Common Ground ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Intelligence Community ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Environment And Trade ◽  
The Cold War

This chapter provides a straightforward account of Japan's meek surrender to a decade of tentative, groping, half-measure post-Cold War intelligence reform. Like intelligence communities elsewhere, the Japanese intelligence community did not anticipate the end of the Cold War. The “East” and “West” were realigning and even finding common ground—and triumphalism reigned in the “free world.” Since the United States was now by default or by design the world's overwhelming military power, some Japanese policy makers felt less urgency to develop a new, comprehensive intelligence formula to cope with this new world order. The shift in the strategic environment and trade frictions with the United States gave greater purpose to the Japanese's determination to do more and better on their own, and several highly conspicuous intelligence failures would provide the necessary political impetus for change. Experimentation was possible and it was time for tinkering.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document