An academic's dry-as-dust assessment of US intelligence needs in
the turbulent times to come. Looking backward over the past 50
years as well as forward, Godson (Government/Georgetown Univ.;
editor of Intelligence Requirements for the 1980s, 1985) offers a
deadly serious survey of what was once deemed the hidden dimension
of diplomacy, military affairs, and statecraft. In his orderly
canon, there are four principal parts to a full-service
intelligence effort: data collection, analysis,
counterintelligence, and covert action. Traditionally, he notes,
the gathering and evaluation of information have bothered neither
the American public nor its elected representatives. By contrast,
the author points out, counterintelligence and covert action have
sparked heated debates; as one result, these elements in recent
years have been more honored in the breach than the observance - at
(in Godson's view) no small cost to national security. The author
recalls that the Nixon administration's commitment to detente with
the Soviet Union (as opposed to the post-WW II policy of
containment) signaled US agencies that counterintelligence was no
longer a priority. About the same time, he asserts, the country's
political leadership began to repudiate the methods (assassination,
destabilization of hostile regimes, paramilitary campaigns,
propaganda) used in clandestine operations. While conceding the
difficulties of reconciling an open, democratic society to
subterfuge and so-called dirty tricks, he commends the strategic
and tactical utility of unorthodox practices. At the global level,
Godson argues, these capacities would make it easier for Washington
to deal with breakaway or outlaw states; closer to home, such
procedures could be gainfully employed in battling organized crime,
containing drug cartels, and neutralizing terrorist groups. An
authoritative albeit tedious audit of what the cloak-and-dagger
bureaucracies could do for their country - if pols had the will and
money to back them. (Kirkus Reviews)
Contrary to popular misconceptions and public branding as "dirty
tricks," covert action and counterintelligence can have
considerable value. Democracies, while wary of these instruments,
have benefited significantly from their use, saving lives,
treasure, and gaining strategic advantage. As liberal democracies
confront the post-Cold War mix of rogue states and non-state
actors, such as criminals and terrorists, and weapons of mass
destruction and mass disruption, these clandestine arts may prove
to be important tools of statecraft, and perhaps trump cards in the
twenty-first century.
Godson defines covert action as influencing events in other
parts of the world without attribution, and counterintelligence as
identifying, neutralizing, and exploiting the secret activities of
others. Together they provide the capability to resist manipulation
and control others to advantage. Counterintelligence protects U.S.
military, technological, and diplomatic secrets and turns adversary
intelligence to U.S. advantage. Covert action enables the United
States to weaken adversaries and to assist allies who may be
hampered by open acknowledgment of foreign support.
Drawing on contemporary and historical literature, broad-ranging
contacts with senior intelligence officials in many countries, as
well as his own research and experience as a longtime consultant to
the U.S. government, Godson traces the history of U.S. covert
action and counterintelligence since 1945, showing that covert
action works well when it is part of a well-coordinated policy and
when policy makers are committed to succeeding in the long-term.
Godson argues that the best counterintelligence is an offensive
defense. His exposition of the essential theoretical foundations of
both covert action and counterintelligence, supported by historical
examples, lays out the ideal conditions for their use, as well as
demonstrating why they are so difficult to attain.
This book will be of interest to students and general readers
interested in political science, national security, foreign policy,
and military policy.
General
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