This is a course that focuses on the history, institutions, people, and processes of intelligence. The course critically examines the role of intelligence as a component of national and international security policy. What is the relationship between policy makers and the intelligence community? What is the intelligence community and how is intelligence produced and utilized?
Learning outcomes for this course include:
- Demonstrate how the intelligence enterprise contributes to the policy making process
- Understand the role of intelligence in historical and current international security situations,
- Demonstrate a working knowledge of the role of intelligence, the intelligence community, technology, and the institutions in addressing security challenges facing the United States,
- Analyze the factors, events, and changing nature of the threat that influenced United States intelligence and national security policy,
- Understand how modern technology influences intelligence and consider how future developments in this realm may affect the intelligence community and process.
There is one required text for this course:
- Mark M. Lowenthal, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy, CQ Press, 2022. Make sure you have the latest/9th edition.
Through a focus on intelligence and policy along with class discussions and assignments, this course will help build and refine your critical thinking and presentation skills. You will be graded on a variety of work that includes:
- An intelligence brief that will be completed individually (15%)
- 2 Intelligence briefs (15% each) and peer critiques (5% each) that will be completed in a team/group (40% total)
- An essay and presentation on a topic approved by the instructor (30%)
- Class Participation and in-class activities (15%)
A: ≥ 90.0%
B: ≥ 80.0% and < 90.0%
C: ≥ 70.0% and < 80.0%
D: ≥ 60.0% and < 70.0%
F: < 60.0%
Attendance is necessary but in cases where you are not able to attend class, please email the instructor as soon as possible so we can discuss exceptional circumstances ahead of your absence. In cases where we are unable to discuss your absence beforehand, please schedule time for us to discuss the absence outside of class time as soon as possible. Reasonable accommodation can be made for various circumstances, however, please do not abuse my good nature and that of your fellow students.
You can miss up to two classes (but not those where you are scheduled to present) for any reason before your grade will be impacted, though I reserve the right to revisit this policy depending on both individual and overall class participation and performance. Any unexcused absence beyond two will result in a 3 percent reduction of your class participation grade.
Georgia Tech aims to cultivate a community based on trust, academic integrity, and honor. Students are expected to act according to the highest ethical standards. Review Georgia Tech’s Honor Code Links to an external site. and the student Code of Conduct
Any student suspected of cheating or plagiarizing on an assignment will be reported to the Office of Student Integrity, who will investigate the incident and identify the appropriate penalty for violations.
Much of your graded work will be via assignments that require you to write. These written assignments are your chance to practice and demonstrate your critical analysis skills, your communication skills, and your understanding and mastery of course content. We will discuss the use of AI tools both as an emerging issue in the practice of intelligence and as it may or may not apply to your assignments. This discussion will help you understand how you should or should not use such tools for any particular assignment