Intelligence Failure Reframed

Develops a concept of intelligence failure from a warning perspective & applies it to the case of state failure to produce & use intelligence information on threats & opportunities to exploit. Discussion begins with a state-centric definition of intelligence failure & a look at the process states use to turn intelligence information into action. Taking US Central Intelligence Agency cases, three themes are emphasized: (1) how policymakers impact intelligence effectiveness via foreign & domestic policies & agency leadership; (2) how policy-implementing agencies influence intelligence effectiveness through their willingness & ability to respond to policy directives & by the degree to which they create & remove their vulnerabilities; & (3) how foreign actors generate intelligence-related US policy failures by exploiting vulnerabilities. Implications for the US intelligence reform debate are touched on. Tables. D. Edelman