Spies! The Politics of Intelligence
University of California Washington Center
Spring Semester 2014
Instructor: Genevieve Lester, PhD
Georgetown University
Mortara Building, 36th and N Street, NW (Lower Level)
Tel: 202 687 4501 (o); 510 501 9008 (c)
Email: gal22@georgetown.edu
Introduction
Intelligence organizations have two qualities that Americans instinctively fear and
distrust: secrecy and power. While the intelligence community can attempt to alleviate
this fear and mistrust, the secret nature of intelligence work can never wholly put them to
rest. Moreover, Americans, particularly since 9/11, hold two opposing views of the
intelligence community: that it is both omniscient and incompetent. This course is
intended to explore, test, and challenge both of these notions. Intelligence is generally
viewed as an applied subject, studied by practitioners. This course bridges the gap
between theory and practice, encouraging students to understand the role of intelligence
among American institutions as well as how it both challenges and contributes to broader
theoretical concepts of transparency and governance. Further, it engages with
comparative issues in terms of the study of intelligence, focusing on intelligence themes
that transcend individual national political contexts.
In this course students will be introduced to recent issues concerning intelligence, such as
the role of intelligence in national security decision-making, intelligence failure, reform,
and oversight, focusing particularly on how the change in US intelligence in the post-9/11
context has increasingly emphasized domestic – or “homeland” – intelligence. Students
will gain a working understanding of the different types of intelligence, the range of
responsibilities that the different IC members hold, and the relationship between
intelligence and the policy-making process. Beyond the technical aspects of the
intelligence function, students will explore the political context that frames intelligence
operations and learn how the three branches of government both collaborate and conflict
to utilize this resource. They will learn how integral intelligence information is to highlevel government decision-making and the function of foreign policy. Finally, students
will consider some of the major normative questions regarding intelligence, such as: what
the appropriate role for intelligence should be in a democracy, how transparent
intelligence should be to the public, and how its vast array of activities should be
supervised.
Course Format
This course is a student-driven seminar. Students will be expected to come to class
prepared and participate actively in class discussion. Complementary to regular class
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participation, students will be required to present on the readings each week. Part of the
evaluation of the presentations will rest upon the concision with which students present
and critique their readings.
Evaluation will be based on student participation, a case study, a policy memo, and final
exam. The final exam will be in the take home format. Cases will be 10 pages long and
will be chosen in consultation with the instructor. The case studies will be compiled into
a volume with potential for publication. Finally, students will prepare for and take part in
a foreign policy simulation exercise.
Assignments and Evaluation
Course Participation and Reading Presentations: Active course participation as befits
a challenging graduate seminar is expected. In addition, each week, two students will be
responsible for critiquing one of the assigned readings. Each presentation will be
approximately 10 minutes long and will form the basis of the discussion. These
presentations should not summarize the readings, but rather focus on a thoughtful critique
and discussion of the issues presented. Participation and presentations are worth 20% of
the grade.
Policy Memo: The policy memo will be approximately five pages long and will be due
in week five of the course. It will be worth 20% of the final grade.
Case Study Project: Students will write up a historical case on a historical intelligence
operation. The project will be 10 pages long. Guidelines are described in further detail on
the last page of the syllabus. The case is worth 25% of the final grade.
Final Exam (take home): The final exam will be a take home exercise and will be worth
35% of the final grade.
Textbook for purchase
Mark Lowenthal, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy (5th edition, 2011).
The remainder of readings will be available on Blackboard.
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Class Meetings
Class 1: Introduction to Course

Mark M. Lowenthal, From Secrets to Policy (5th Edition) (Washington DC: CQ
Press, 2011), Chs. 1-4, pp. 1-70.
Class 2: Understanding the US Intelligence Community

Jeffrey T. Richelson, The US Intelligence Community (6th edition) (Boulder, CO:
Westview Press, 2012) Ch. 1-3, pp. 1-78.

Loch K. Johnson (ed.), The Handbook of Intelligence Studies, Part III: The
Intelligence Cycle and the Search for Information: Planning, Collecting and
Processing, pp. 105-163.
Class 3: The Intelligence Disciplines

Lowenthal, From Secrets to Policy, Ch. 5, pp. 71-118.

Richelson, The US Intelligence Community, Chs. 7-9, pp. 169-269.

Selections from Henry A. Crumpton, The Art of Intelligence: Lessons from a Life
in the CIA's Clandestine Service (Penguin: 2012).

Selections from Milt Beardon and James Risen, The Main Enemy: The Inside
Story of the CIA’s Final Showdown with the KGB (Ballantine Books, 2003).
Class 4: Analysis and Inevitability?

Lowenthal, From Secrets to Policy, Ch. 6, pp. 119-162.

James Bruce, “Making Analysis More Reliable: Why Epistemology Matters to
Intelligence,” in George and Bruce (eds), Analyzing Intelligence: Origins,
Obstacles and Innovations (Georgetown: 2008) Ch. 11, pp. 171-190.

Carmen Medina, “The New Analysis,” Analyzing Intelligence: Origins, Obstacles
and Innovations (Georgetown: 2008) Ch 15, pp. 238-250.

Richard K. Betts, “Analysis, War and Decision: Why Intelligence Failures are
Inevitable,” World Politics (Vol. 31, No. 2, October 1978).

Robert Jervis, Why Intelligence Fails: Lessons from the Iranian Revolution and
the Iraq War (Cornell: 2010) Chs. 3-4, pp. 123-196.
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Class 5: Intelligence and the Policymaker

Lowenthal, From Secrets to Policy, Ch. 9, pp. 199-216.

Peter Gill, “The Politicization of Intelligence: Lessons from the Invasion of Iraq”,
in Born, Johnson and Leigh (eds), Who’s Watching the Spies (Washington DC:
Potomac Books, 2005) Ch. 2, pp. 12-33.

Paul R. Pillar, “Intelligence, Policy and the War in Iraq,” Foreign Affairs
(March/April 2006).

Selections from Joshua Rovner, Fixing the Facts: Intelligence and the Politics of
National Security (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2011).
*Policy Memos Due by Midnight*
Class 6: Covert Action

Lowenthal, From Secrets to Policy, Ch. 8, pp. 181-198.

John Prados, “The Future of Covert Action” in Loch K. Johnson (ed.), The
Handbook of Intelligence Studies, Part V, pp. 289-300.

John MacGaffin, “Clandestine Human Intelligence: Spies, Counterspies, and
Covert Action,” in Jennifer E. Sims and Burton Gerber (eds), Transforming US
Intelligence (Washington: Georgetown University Press, 2005) pp. 79-95.

Andru E. Wall, “Demystifying the Title 10-Title 50 Debate: Distinguishing
Military Operations, Intelligence Activities and Covert Action,” Harvard
National Security Journal (Vol. 3, 2011) pp. 85-141.

Jennifer Kibbe, “Covert Action and the Pentagon,” Intelligence and National
Security (Vol. 22, No. 1, Feb. 2007): pp. 57-74

Nicholas Schmidle, “Getting bin Laden: What Happened That Night in
Abbottabad,” New Yorker, August 8, 2011.
Class 7: Counterintelligence

Lowenthal, From Secrets to Policy, Ch. 7, pp. 163-180.
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
Robert Jervis, “Intelligence, Counterintelligence, Perception and Deception” in
Jennifer E. Sims and Burton Gerber (eds), Vaults, Mirrors and Masks:
Rediscovering US Counterintelligence (Washington DC: Georgetown University
Press, 2008) Ch. 3, pp. 69-80.

Jennifer Sims, “Twenty-first Century Counterintelligence: the Theoretical Basis
for Reform,” in Jennifer E. Sims and Burton Gerber (eds), Vaults, Mirrors and
Masks: Rediscovering US Counterintelligence (Washington DC: Georgetown
University Press, 2008) Ch. 1, pp. 19-51.

Nosenko Case Study

Hanssen Case Study
Class 8: Domestic Intelligence and Law Enforcement

Brian A. Jackson (ed). The Challenge of Domestic Intelligence in a Free Society
(Santa Monica: RAND, 2009) Chs. 3, 4, and 7.

Henry A. Crumpton, “Intelligence and Homeland Defense” in Jennifer E. Sims
and Burton Gerber, Transforming US Intelligence (Washington DC: Georgetown
University Press, 2005) Ch. 12, pp. 198-219.

Brian A. Jackson (ed.) Considering the Creation of a Domestic Intelligence
Agency in the United States: Lessons from the Experiences of Australia, Canada,
France, Germany, and the United Kingdom (Santa Monica: RAND, 2009) Chs. 1,
4-8.

Richard A. Posner, Preventing Surprise Attacks: Intelligence Reform in the Wake
of 9/11 (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2005) (selections)
Class 9: Ethics and Intelligence

Selections from James M. Olson, Fairplay: The Moral Dilemmas of Spying
(Potomac Books: 2007).

Selections from Michael Walzer, Just and Unjust Wars (Basic: 2000).

Burton Gerber, “Managing HUMINT, the Need for a New Approach,” in Sims
and Gerber (eds) Transforming US Intelligence, pp. 180-197.

E. Drexel Godfrey, “Ethics and Intelligence,” Foreign Affairs 56, (3) (April
1978): pp. 624-42.

Richard Helms, A Look Over My Shoulder: A Life in the Central Intelligence
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Agency (Ballantine: 2003) Chs. 38 and 40.
Class 10: Intelligence and Oversight

Loch K. Johnson, “Governing in the Absence of Angels”, in Born, Johnson and
Leigh (eds), Who’s Watching the Spies (Washington DC: Potomac Books, 2005)
Ch. 4, pp. 57-78.

Genevieve Lester, “External Accountability: Congress, Opposition, and Oversight
Development,” pp. 84-127.

Dana Priest and William M. Arkin, Top Secret America: The Rise of the New
American Security State (New York: Little Brown, 2011) Chs. 1, 2, pp. 3-35; 256277.

Bruce Cain et al, “Towards More Open Democracies: The Expansion of Freedom
of Information Laws,” in Bruce E. Cain, Russell J. Dalton, and Susan E. Scarrow
(eds) Democracy Transformed? Expanding Political Opportunities in Advanced
Industrial Democracies (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2003) pp. 115-139.
Class 11: Intelligence Simulation

Materials to be distributed prior to class
Class 12: Intelligence Liaison and Student Presentations

Jennifer E. Sims, “Foreign Intelligence Liaison: Devils, Deals and Details,”
International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (Vol. 19: 2006) pp.
195-217.

Stéphane Lefebvre, "The Difficulties and Dilemma of International Intelligence
Cooperation." International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence (Vol.
16, no. 4, Winter 2003-2004): pp. 527-542.
Class 13: Cybersecurity, New Directions and Conclusions

Richard K. Betts, Enemies of Intelligence (New York: Columbia University Press,
2007) Chs. 1, 8, pp. 1-19; pp. 183-193.
*Final Exam Distributed*
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Policy Memo Template

Policy Issue
o Brief background of issue: how has the issue become a concern?
o Explain why it is important
o Lay out the facts of the policy problem
o Provide any supporting evidence/data needed to understand problem

Policy Options
o Provide several (at least 3) potential courses of action for your fictional
policymaker

Potential Complications and Outcomes of Each Course of Action
o Address the problems/pros/cons of each alternative

Recommendations
o Provide your recommendation for a course of action
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Case Study Paper Project Description
The case study project should be 10 doubled-spaced pages, and will examine a single
foreign intelligence, counter-intelligence, or covert action case. Students will be allowed
to choose their own cases in consultation with the instructor. The paper will consist of the
following components:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Summary of the case (2 pages)
Description of the case as a success or failure (3 pages)
Explanation of the why it succeeded or failed (3 pages)
Principal lessons-learned from the case study, identifying the best (and/or
worst) intelligence practices (2 pages).
Use secondary sources drawn from the course as well as primary sources from the CIA
website, the National Security Archive website, Federation of American Scientists, etc.
The main objective here is to access as much data as possible and to pull this wide range
of information into a coherent analytic project. Cases may focus on American
intelligence or foreign services. Examples of potential topics include a) the Bay of Pigs,
b) the VENONA case c) the overthrow of Mossadegh d) Iran-Contra e) the Iraq invasion;
f) Iraq/WMD aftermath.
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