All major nations employ intelligence capabilities to serve their respective national interests; the well-being of a nation ebbs and flows with the nation’s successes and failures related to security, economic and political issues. Intelligence services are expected to provide accurate and timely studies in intelligence to satisfy the government policymakers’ needs for understanding issues expediently with full comprehension. These critical inputs are derived from intelligence that is collected from various sources and verified by thorough vetting techniques. There are classified and restricted data which can be obtained only by the employment of special collection techniques. The Internet is a recent phenomenon which brings a plethora of sources to the analyst’s fingertips, leaving intelligence organizations with the challenge of testing the veracity of that Internet information. The intelligence profession has the responsibility to synthesize all this information into a time-space context that gives expedient knowledge to government policymakers.

In order to deliver a useful product to policy makers, intelligence analysts need two basic elements: information and expertise in the subject area. The distinction between information and knowledge is important; information is data that has the potential to be incorrect or incomplete and which in isolation seldom provides understanding of a complex problem. Knowledge and expertise is developed through experience and intense studies in intelligence; knowledge is created by the analytical synthesis of information which gives meaning to the “raw information.” In the intelligence cycle, the information is collected through technical means and human sources which may be categorized as the five INTs: Signals Intelligence (SlGINT), Imagery Intelligence (IMINT), Measurement and Signature Intelligence (MASINT), Human-source Intelligence (HUMINT) and Open-source Intelligence (OSINT). These INTs are summed up in the term “All Source Intelligence.” With this substantive foundation of information and expertise, the goal of the intelligence profession is to then create an analytic product to provide top-level U.S. government officials knowledge for decision making; the quintessential product is the National Intelligence Estimate (NIE).

The NIE process involves the overall Intelligence Community (IC) and All Source information. In theory up to seventeen agencies and departments could be involved in a single NIE; but the reality is the contributors are limited to those agencies and departments which have a mission involvement in the specific subject of the NIE. Typically CIA leads the overall drafting and publication of an NIE starting with the Terms of Reference (TOR). The TOR sets the specific subject, issues and scope for that NIE. Drafting responsibilities may be assigned to a single agency or divided among participants based on expertise and knowledge of the topic. The analysts draw on the All Source information and studies in intelligence to produce a draft for review by the other members of that NIE team. Given the natural and unavoidable imperfections in the All Source information, the participating agencies may arrive at differing conclusions as to the meaning and potential consequences as related to the TOR. The lead agency will then convene the participants to examine and hopefully resolve the differences. Each participant can argue their interpretation of the evidence and rationale for a given conclusion. If a unanimous position cannot be reached on an issue, the NIE process provides a mechanism for dissent. The intent of the NIE process is to give the policymakers the best assessment the intelligence profession can produce even to the point of including differing views. Different views traditionally were included in the NIE text as footnotes. Since “A National Intelligence Estimate (NIE) represents the U.S. intelligence community’s most authoritative and coordinated written assessment of a specific national-security issue,” the final draft is circulated for each participating agency to review and then sign-off. The approved NIE is then sent to a highly select and limited circle of policy makers for consideration, understanding each NIE may portend precedent-setting events and historic consequences.

Dan Sommer works for Henley-Putnam University, a leading educational institution in the field of Strategic Security. For more info on Henley-Putnam University, intelligence profession, studies in intelligence, call 888-852-8746 or visit us online at http://www.Henley-Putnam.edu

Dan Sommer works for Henley-Putnam University, a leading educational institution in the field of Strategic Security. For more info on Henley-Putnam University, intelligence profession, studies in intelligence, call 888-852-8746 or visit us online at http://www.Henley-Putnam.edu

Author Bio: Dan Sommer works for Henley-Putnam University, a leading educational institution in the field of Strategic Security. For more info on Henley-Putnam University, intelligence profession, studies in intelligence, call 888-852-8746 or visit us online at http://www.Henley-Putnam.edu

Category: Education
Keywords: intelligence profession,studies in intelligence