Controlling Controversy: 1995–1997
As a leading international economist with prior high-level policy experience, Richard Cooper brought to the National Intelligence Council chairmanship an unusual level of authority on economic issues. This proved valuable in internal policy disputes over Japan’s financial situation, in which the NIC successfully challenged the Treasury Department’s assessment. His tenure also saw the challenges of dealing with the former Yugoslavia after the Dayton Accords brokered a tenuous peace, as well as the NIC’s first foray into nontraditional security issues such as climate change. Finally, the NIC published an influential report called Global Trends 2010, looking out 15 years to anticipate future challenges—and initiating a series of reports issued by the NIC every four years thereafter.