About this Research Topic
Whereas intelligence has always been a key element in constructing foreign policy it was long a neglected area of study. This began to change with Roberta Wohlstetter’s 1962 book on Pearl Harbor and a series of revelations in the late 1970s by former intelligence officials about CIA clandestine operations. A subsequent first generation of intelligence studies emerged that expanded the range of cases studies examined and added studies on the history and organizational dynamics of intelligence bureaucracies and intelligence oversight. A second generation saw studies of intelligence look beyond the U.S. experience and become global. A third generation is now in place that has expanded the study of intelligence beyond the boundaries of national security institutions to include private sector, nonprofits, and international organizations, and policy areas such as pandemics, climate change, and human security. The discipline is maturing as seen in the growth of quantitative research articles that build on the qualitative work from the first two generations of scholarship.
Our goals in editing this Collection of Frontiers in Political Science are twofold. The first goal, reflected in the background and author information sections is to provide a setting for those active in the field of intelligence studies to address questions about how intelligence studies have evolved, where it is now, and where it needs to move forward. The second goal is to serve as a platform for bringing together the cohort of scholars who write, teach, and study intelligence. We seek to do this by reaching out to the annual meetings of the conferences to which these scholars belong and to organizations who coordinate their efforts. They are: 1) the intelligence studies section of the American Political Science Association (next conference, Fall 2023), 2) the intelligence studies section of the International Studies Association (Spring 2023), the International Association for Intelligence Education (Summer 2023), 4) the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (call to members); and 4) scholars in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Academic Center’s of Excellence program. We plan to reach out to each of these groups to promote this edition of Frontiers in Political Science and increase the awareness of scholars to other areas of potential cooperation in the study of intelligence.
One important dimension to the study of international relations and security studies is intelligence. This Research Topic of Frontiers in Political Science will examine ways in which intelligence studies has expanded from traditional national security issues and the ways in which it might move forward in addressing contemporary global policy issues and challenges. It will also examine fundamental assumptions about intelligence as a field of study and what changes, if any, are needed.
We seek scholarship including, but not limited to, original research, definitional and operationalization issues, theory development, case studies on a wide variety of policy areas, research methodologies based upon diverse interdisciplinary, epistemological perspectives and approaches, the challenges faced in learning from the past, and reflective essays from those who have been active in the field of intelligence. Our preference is for manuscripts 20-35 pages in length with a submission due date of January 2024.
Our goals in editing this Collection of Frontiers in Political Science are twofold. The first goal, reflected in the background and author information sections is to provide a setting for those active in the field of intelligence studies to address questions about how intelligence studies have evolved, where it is now, and where it needs to move forward. The second goal is to serve as a platform for bringing together the cohort of scholars who write, teach, and study intelligence. We seek to do this by reaching out to the annual meetings of the conferences to which these scholars belong and to organizations who coordinate their efforts. They are: 1) the intelligence studies section of the American Political Science Association (next conference, Fall 2023), 2) the intelligence studies section of the International Studies Association (Spring 2023), the International Association for Intelligence Education (Summer 2023), 4) the Association of Former Intelligence Officers (call to members); and 4) scholars in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence Academic Center’s of Excellence program. We plan to reach out to each of these groups to promote this edition of Frontiers in Political Science and increase the awareness of scholars to other areas of potential cooperation in the study of intelligence.
One important dimension to the study of international relations and security studies is intelligence. This Research Topic of Frontiers in Political Science will examine ways in which intelligence studies has expanded from traditional national security issues and the ways in which it might move forward in addressing contemporary global policy issues and challenges. It will also examine fundamental assumptions about intelligence as a field of study and what changes, if any, are needed.
We seek scholarship including, but not limited to, original research, definitional and operationalization issues, theory development, case studies on a wide variety of policy areas, research methodologies based upon diverse interdisciplinary, epistemological perspectives and approaches, the challenges faced in learning from the past, and reflective essays from those who have been active in the field of intelligence. Our preference is for manuscripts 20-35 pages in length with a submission due date of January 2024.
Keywords: Intelligence, intelligence sharing, clandestine operations, analysis and estimates, forecasting, oversight
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
