Mark M. Lowenthal – författare

No major twentieth-century power has so short a history of national intelligence agencies or activities as does the United States, and few have been as public or as tumultuous. A major debate has now opened over the future structure, size, and role of U.S. intelligence in the aftermath of the cold war. This unique and fully updated book is a history of the U.S. intelligence community--as well as a detailed description of the organization and function of the major components of the community as they existed at the beginning of 1992. A welcome and timely update of one of the most concise and objective guides to the history and structure of U.S. intelligence. Representative Dave McCurdy, Chairman, Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, U.S. House of RepresentativesThe history of the intelligence community can be divided into three distinct periods. From its creation in 1947 until the revelations and investigations of 1974-1975, the intelligence community operated under fairly broad grants of authority based on trust. After the Nixon administration, a previously dormant Congress was galvanized to write new oversight provisions and also took on a greater role as a shaper and consumer of intelligence. With the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the cold war in 1991, the intelligence community found its role and even its necessity questioned due to the sudden absence of its major target. Lowenthal emphasizes that a competent and challenged intelligence capability is an essential part of the U.S. national security structure, despite the status of external events or threats. The major requirement of this structure, he says, is providing timely, objective, and pointed analysis to policymakers across a wide range of issues.

A broad and deep survey of American intelligence from before the Revolution to the present  Every nation has an intelligence apparatus—some means by which its top officials acquire needed information on sensitive issues. But each nation does it differently, influenced by its history, its geographical conditions, and its political traditions. In this book, Mark M. Lowenthal examines the development of U.S. intelligence to explain how and why the United States went from having no intelligence service to speak of to being the world’s predominant intelligence power almost overnight, and he discusses the difficult choices involved in maintaining that dominance in a liberal democracy.  Lowenthal describes how the lack of a tradition of spycraft both hindered and helped American efforts to develop intelligence services during and after the Second World War. He points to the political pragmatism—leading to difficult choices—with which most intelligence directors operated; the constant tension between security and civil liberties in a constitutional democracy; the tension between the need for secrecy and the accountability required for democratic governance; and the way the growing importance of technology changed both the methods and the objectives of intelligence gathering. Far more than simply an episodic history, this book offers an analysis of why American intelligence developed as it did—and what it has meant for the nation’s and the world’s politics.

First published in 1995. This series seeks to consolidate published material on a wide variety of public, private, and non-profit organizations including: (a) federal agencies, Congressional committees, the judicial branch, and international bodies; (b) corporations, interest groups, trade unions, and consulting firms; as well as (c) professional associations, scientific societies, and educational institutions. This text offers an organised volume of intelligence literature. Intelligence is the collection and analysis of information about threats at home and abroad for use by policymakers as they make key decisions-is widely recognized as the nation's first line of defense in protecting itself against dangers from overseas and subversive activities at home.

Mark M. Lowenthal’s trusted guide is the go-to resource for understanding how the intelligence community’s history, structure, procedures, and functions affect policy decisions. In the fully updated Ninth Edition of Intelligence, the author addresses cyber security and cyber intelligence throughout, expands the coverage of collection, comprehensively updates the chapters on nation-state issues and transnational issues, and looks at foreign intelligence services, both large and small.

Now in its Tenth Edition, Mark Lowenthal's book is the go-to resource for understanding the intelligence community.

First published in 1995. This series seeks to consolidate published material on a wide variety of public, private, and non-profit organizations including: (a) federal agencies, Congressional committees, the judicial branch, and international bodies; (b) corporations, interest groups, trade unions, and consulting firms; as well as (c) professional associations, scientific societies, and educational institutions. This text offers an organised volume of intelligence literature. Intelligence is the collection and analysis of information about threats at home and abroad for use by policymakers as they make key decisions-is widely recognized as the nation's first line of defense in protecting itself against dangers from overseas and subversive activities at home.

Intelligence is, by definition, a shadowy business. Yet many aspects of this secret world are now more openly analyzed and discussed, a trend which has inevitably prompted lively debate about intelligence gathering and analysis: what should be allowed? What boundaries, if any, should be drawn? And what changes and challenges lie ahead for intelligence activities and agencies? In this compelling book, leading intelligence scholar Mark Lowenthal explores the future of intelligence. There are, he argues, three broad areas – information technology and intelligence collection; analysis; and governance – that indicate the potential for rather dramatic change in the world of intelligence. But whether these important vectors for change will improve how intelligence works or make it more difficult remains to be seen. The only certainty is that intelligence will remain an essential feature of statecraft in our increasingly dangerous world. Drawing on the author's forty years' experience in U.S. intelligence, The Future of Intelligence offers a broad and authoritative starting point for the ongoing debate about what intelligence could be and how it may function in the years ahead.