A history of winning intelligence practices from the Spanish Armada to Cyberwar that offers timeless, practical lessons we ignore at our peril.
According to conventional wisdom, strategic surprise and other intelligence failures are both inevitable and ultimately irrelevant because, at least in international politics and war, military muscle matters more than brains.
In Decision Advantage, Jennifer E. Sims counters this argument by investigating the history of intelligence through centuries of international conflict, including the 16th Century's Spanish Armada, two US Civil War battles, the hunt for President Lincoln's assassin, and key diplomatic crises before the two World Wars. Sims dives deep into these events to show that the competitive pursuit of intelligence advantage has been a measurable, buildable, and consequential form of power that can help competitors win against otherwise stronger opponents. From these observations, the author develops a general guide to building intelligence readiness, whether for war, diplomacy, or international manhunts.
Refuting arguments that intelligence is a sideshow because intentions are unknowable and predictions risky, she redefines success as gaining information advantages over an adversary, prescribes four practical pathways for gaining them, and confirms what seems to be simple common sense: smart competitors know how to learn, and the ones who learn best tend to win. Thinking of intelligence in this way, Sims argues, adds a moral character to an enterprise that is too often mired in excessive secrecy and tyrannical agendas. By "lifting the veil" on international politics, Decision Advantage shows how good intelligence can lessen the likelihood of wars of misperception and folly.
Rezensionen / Stimmen
This lengthy work gives readers a great deal to ponder, particularly Sims's illustration of the critical roles that intelligence gathering and analysis play in determining the course of conflict, invisible though they often are. * Choice * In a real tour de force, Jennifer Sims develops and deploys a broadened concept of intelligence to show how it can lead to a decision advantage that affects the course of history. The cases studied are unusual and extraordinarily well done. This important book is a pleasure to read and deserves a wide audience." -Robert Jervis, author of Why Intelligence Fails Jennifer Sims takes the reader on a fascinating tour of intelligence failures and successes from the Spanish Armada to today's post-911 world. Her rigorous analysis reminds us that intelligence in war does not need to be perfect; it just needs to be better than the intelligence on the enemy's side." -Scott D. Sagan, Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science, Stanford University The concept 'decision advantage' is central to the mission of U.S. intelligence * providing policy makers with intelligence to give them an information advantage over other international actors. Indeed, the term 'decision advantage' figures prominently in a display in the offices of the Director of National Intelligence. Jennifer Sims, a long time intelligence veteran, is properly credited with originating the concept and its definition. She has now taken this concept and examined how it worked across a range of historic policy dilemmas, from the threat posed to England by the Spanish Armada to the current issue of cyberspace. Dr. Sims has produced a thoughtful and provocative study that bridges intelligence theory and intelligence history." -Mark M. Lowenthal, Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production (2002-05), and author of Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy
* Sims has produced a thought-provoking book that seeks to bridge intelligence theory and history. The case-studies are engaging and full of detail on the influence of intelligence on military and diplomatic competition, which will be of interest to a broad audience...Sims's book should be read widely. * Dan Lomas, International Affairs * Jennifer E. Sims's Decision Advantage is an examination of how intelligence has influenced select decision-makers, through three broad periods in history, culminating in a proposed theory of intelligence in international politics...as a historical study of intelligence, the book excels. * Robin Kemp, H-Net * In Decision Advantage, Jennifer E. Sims seeks to correct both popular misconceptions of how espionage operates and rebut the views of those who dismiss its importance in international politics. * Mitchell B. Reiss, Intelligence, Strategy and Governance in the Twenty-first Century *
Sprache
Verlagsort
Zielgruppe
Produkt-Hinweis
Fadenheftung
Gewebe-Einband
Illustrationen
Maße
Höhe: 239 mm
Breite: 165 mm
Dicke: 42 mm
Gewicht
ISBN-13
978-0-19-750804-6 (9780197508046)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Klassifikation
Jennifer E. Sims is a non-resident Senior Fellow with the Chicago Council on Global Affairs. Before this residency, Sims was a core faculty member and Director of Intelligence Studies in the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University's Walsh School of Foreign Service while also serving as a presidential appointee on the USG's Public Interest Declassification Board (2008-2011) and as a member Director of National Intelligence's Senior Advisory Group. During her more than ten years of US government service, Dr. Sims was Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence Coordination (1994-1998) and Intelligence Advisor to the Under Secretary for Management and Coordinator for Intelligence Resources and Planning at the US Department of State (1998-2001). In 1998, Dr. Sims received the Intelligence Community's highest civilian award, the National Distinguished Service Medal, for developing the concept of intelligence Support to Diplomatic Operations (SDO) and implementing it during the
Balkan War with the establishment of the first Diplomatic Intelligence Support Center in Sarajevo.
Autor*in
Senior FellowSenior Fellow, Chicago Council on Global Affairs
1. Intelligence and Decision Advantage in International Politics
2. The Spanish Armada
3. Gaining Decision: Advantage in the Anglo-Spanish War
4. Intelligence Lessons from The Spanish Armada
5. Battlefield Intelligence: The Battles of First Manassas and Chancellorsville During the US Civil War
6. Gaining Advantage: First Manassas and Chancellorsville
7. Intelligence Lessons from Civil War Battlefields
8. Intelligence for the Chase: Races, Chases, and Interdictions in Complex Contingencies
9. Intelligence Support to Diplomacy
10. Knowledge and Diplomacy in the Era of Total War
11. Gaining Diplomatic Advantages before WWI
12. Intelligence and Decision in 1938
13. A Theory of Intelligence in International Politics
14. 21st Century Intelligence: Distributed Power and Cyberwar
Appendix 1: Report By Nuno Da Silva, Portuguese Pilot Captured by Francis Drake, 19.1.1578
Appendix 2: A General Theory of Intelligence
Index
