Book Description
Spies, bugs, moles, double-agents, drop-offs, covert action. The world of intelligence is filled with intrigue, but at its core, the information-secret or otherwise-is valuable to governments for the power it affords policy makers. With the constant need for background, context, and warning as well as an assessment of risks, benefits, and likely outcomes, the intelligence community plays a crucial role in policy formation. Lowenthal adeptly describes the development of this community while showing students how the various stages of the intelligence process serve an intelligence agenda that has changed dramatically in this post-Cold War, post-9/11 world. In this thoroughly revised second edition, Lowenthal updates each and every chapter, including new material on the infamous Robert Hanssen and Wen Ho Lee cases. Two new chapters significantly round out coverage: one on intelligence reform and another that takes a comparative look at intelligence in Britain, France, Russia, Israel, and China. This new edition also takes into account the impact and effects the war on terrorism now has on collection, analysis, and counterintelligence, as well as the ethical and moral issues surrounding these tasks.

About the Author
Mark M. Lowenthal has twenty-seven years of experience as an intelligence official in the executive and legislative branches of government and in the private sector. He returned to government service in 2002, concurrently performing the duties of the assistant director on central intelligence for analysis and production, and serving as vice chairman of the National Intelligence Council for Evaluation. Dr. Lowenthal is also an adjunct professor at Columbia University.

SYNOPSIS

Lowenthal (a professor at Columbia U. and a former U.S. intelligence official) presents an academic introduction to the history and current role of intelligence agencies in the foreign policy of the United States. He surveys the growth of the intelligence agencies, examines their place in the general structure of government, reviews policy debates about the scope and nature of intelligence activities, and discusses intelligence reforms. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

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