Reading Room Archives

Gain more perspective on analysis issues from these publications, written by IAT’s own experts and other experts:

Articles on Analysis

• December 3, 2008: The Washington Post - Gunmen Used Technology as a Tactical Tool by Emily Wax - The availability of advanced technology enabled the individuals responsible for the Mumbai attacks, to operate with increased sophistication and avoid detection by counterterrorism authorities.
  
  
• December 2, 2008: Harvard's Kennedy School of Government - Recent remarks from the Director of National Intelligence Mike McConnell. McConnell talks about the history of intelligence and how the collection of intelligence is changing.
  
  
• December 1, 2008: The Washington Post - Pentagon to Detail Troops to Bolster Domestic Security by Spencer S. Hsu and Ann Scott Tyson - Article outlines a proposed DoD plan to use 20,000 troops, in the form of rapid response teams, to support domestic security operations during crisis situations.
  
  
• November 25, 2008: The Wall Street Journal - In Cities, the Fight Against Terrorism Walks the Beat by Siobhan Gorman - Article highlights the efforts of metropolitan police departments, including Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles, to build information sharing programs targeting terrorist related suspicious activity reports.
  
  
• November 20, 2008: The New York Times - New York Police Fight With U.S. on Surveillance by David Johnston and William K. Rashbaum - Article highlights the challenges between state and federal authorities in pursuing terrorism investigations domestically.
  
  
• November 12, 2008: Office of the Director of National Intelligence - Critical Intelligence Community Management Challenges - ODNI's Office of the Inspector General Report from Inspector General Edward Maguire.
  
  
• November 11, 2008: C4ISR Journal - U.S. Intel Community Seeks Money to Close 'Shocking Gaps' by Ben Iannotta - Despite efforts over the past seven years, the NSA chief technology and information officer claims the intelligence community still suffers from an inability to share information effectively and collaborate across agencies.
  
  
• November 11, 2008: The New York Times - Google Uses Web Searches to Track Flu's Spread by Miguel Helft - Google technology tracks Web searches as indicator of flu spread and severity.
  
  
• November 2008: DCVelocity - Billion Dollar Baby by Steve Geary - Department of Defense's U.S. Transportation Command (USTRANSCOM) signed billion dollar contract that will change the way U.S. military purchases transportation services.
  
  
• October 2008: The Economist - Surveillance Technology is Getting Smarter: If Looks Could Kill - Security experts discuss the latest intelligent computerized surveillance systems that can detect hostile intentions before they occur.
  
  
• October 27, 2008: Strategic Forecasting - 2008 and the Return of the Nation State by George Friedman -This article discusses how the financial crisis will eventually pass into history but far worse is that we have once again become a world of nations pursuing our own interests and collaborating where we choose.
  
  
• October 16, 2008: BusinessWeek - How AIG's Credit Loophole Squeezed Europe's Banks by David Henry, Matthew Goldstein and Carol Matlack - This article discusses why European Banks suddenly need a bailout when they didn't gorge on subprime assets as much as U.S. banks.
  
  
• October 9, 2008: The Washington Post - U.S. Urgently Reviews Policy on Afghanistan by Karen DeYoung - The White House reviews Afghanistan policy amid growing concerns that the administration lacks a comprehensive policy.
  
  
• Fall 2008: Air & Space Power Journal - Rethinking the Combined Force Air Component Commander's Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Approach to Counterinsurgency by Michael L. Downs.
  
  
• Sept./Oct. 2008: MIT's Technology Review - How Obama Really Did It by David Talbot - How a social-networking strategy took an obscure senator to the doors of the White House.
  
  
• September 2008: Combating Nuclear Smuggling - Government Accountability Office's testimony before the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs United States Senate.
  
  
• September 2008: The Economist - Know-alls - Electronic Snooping by the State May Safeguard Liberty--And Also Threaten it.
  
  
• September 16, 2008: The Wall Street Journal - FBI Wrestling With Remake as Intelligence Agency Critics Say Bureau Needs Culture Shift; Director to Testify, by Siobhan Gorman and Evan Perez - The FBI needs to do business differently to change itself from a gun and bad culture to a domestic intelligence organization.
  
  
• September 2008: 2008 INSA Analytic Transformation Conference - Remarks and Q&A by the Deputy Director of National Intelligence for Analysis, John Brennan and the Chairman of the National Intelligence Council, Dr. Thomas Fingar.
  
  
• September 2008: Defense News - Interview with Robert Cardillo: U.S. DIA's Deputy Director of Analysis, by John Bennett - America's "small and agile" foes have driven the DIA to unheard-of collaboration and openness internally with other agencies.
  
  
• August 2008: guardian.co.uk - MI5 Report Challenges Views on Terrorism in Britain, by Alan Travis - MI5 has concluded that there is no easy way to identify those who become involved in terrorism in Britain.
  
  
• August 2008: washingtonpost.com - Russia's Challenge: The U.S. Needs a Longer View and a More Agile Security Framework, by John McLaughlin - "We need to devote more time to long-range thinking and strategy -- other areas where we have fallen short and where intelligence can play a key role."
  
  
• May - June 2008: The Military Review - The Taliban: An Organizational Analysis by Major Shahid Afsar, Pakistan Army; Major Chris Samples, U.S. Army and Major Thomas Wood, U.S. Army - This article discusses that despite the quick overthrow in 2002 by a small coalition of U.S. forces and anti- Taliban groups, the Taliban's influence in Afghanistan is increasing and it has prevented the new government from establishing legitimacy as well as creating massive unrest in Pakistan.
  
  
• May 21, 2008: The New York Times - An Oracle of Oil Predicts $200-a-Barrel Crude by Louise Story - An oil analyst at Goldman Sachs, Arjun Murti has become the talk of the oil market by issuing one sensational forecast after another.
  
  
• May 2008: What Are Global Problems? What makes them different than just complex, large scale problems? Nautilus Institute's Peter Hayes and Richard Tanter introduce the issues.
  
  
• May 2008: Police Chief - Connecting the Dots: Dating Mining and Predictive Analysis in Law Enforcement and Intelligence Analysis, by IAT expert Colleen McCue and Parker, A.
  
  
• Spring 2008: Orbis - Rethinking the Battle of Ideas: How the United States Can Help Muslim Moderates by Ronald R. Krebs - There is little disagreement in Washington that the United States is losing the so-called Battle of Ideas, and there is a surprising consensus on what needs to be done: ‘‘reach out’’ to Muslim moderates. Bolstering moderate voices in the Muslim world is indeed crucial to the fate of the War on Terror, but ‘‘reaching out’’ to them is no solution.
  
  
• March 2008: The Think Tank is Dead; Long Live the Think Tank, by Michael Tanji -Virtual think tanks have advantages and disadvantages over traditional think tanks but the immediate future is likely to produce a synergy between traditional public policy houses and the emerging “think tank 2.0” approach.
  
  
• Jan/Feb 2008: The Rise of China and Future of the West, by G. John Ikenberry - China's rise will inevitably bring the United States' unipolar moment to an end. But that does not necessarily mean a violent power struggle or the overthrow of the Western system. The U.S.-led international order can remain dominant even while integrating a more powerful China -- but only if Washington sets about strengthening that liberal order now.
  
  
• August 2007: Business Newswire - Fitch Affirms $20B & Downgrades $2.4B of U.S. Subprime RMBS; New 2005-2007 Surveillance Criteria - Fitch Ratings has introduced new surveillance methodology designed to recognize the performance profile and distinct risks inherent in individual securities.
  
  
• May 2007: Data Mining and Predictive Analysis: Intelligence Gathering and Crime Analysis by Colleen McCue. (available at Amazon)
  
  
• 2005: Date Mining and Predictive Analytics: Battlespace Awareness for the War on Terrorism, Defense Intelligence Journal article by Colleen McCue.
  
  

• November 2003: Data Mining and Value-Added Analysis, FBI Law Enforcement Bulletin article, pg. 1-6, by Colleen McCue, Stone, E.S. and Gooch, T.P.
  
  
  

IAT Publications

• December 2001: U.S. Commercial Remote Sensing Satellite Industry: An Analysis of Risks by IAT expert and CEO Kevin O'Connell.
  (available at Amazon)
  
  
• September 2001: Commercial Observation Satellites: At the Leading Edge of Global Transparency by IAT expert and CEO Kevin O'Connell.
  (available at Amazon)

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