The American Intelligence Community

Paper Summary:

The paper discusses how the enormous political and economic changes since the Second World War have dramatically changed the way governments collect and use intelligence. The paper shows how the United States' intelligence community has changed considerably since the end of the Second World War. The paper explains that at that time, it was a force to fight the spread of communism and with it the growth in power and influence of America's chief rival, the Soviet Union. Today, it has become a terrorist-fighting organization and one that is intimately linked with other law enforcement agencies.

From the Paper:

"The enormous political and economic changes of the years since the Second World War have dramatically changed the way governments collect and use intelligence. During that period of time, the United States went from a nation with only a small, primarily wartime intelligence community, to a state in possession of an extensive national security apparatus. The "national security state" arose first in response to the perceived threat of communism, and eventually grew to encompass many other potential dangers. Terrorism, economic espionage, as well as rogue states and foreign domestic disturbances are now included within the purview of the contemporary American intelligence community."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Jeffrey T. Richelson, The U.S. Intelligence Community, 4th ed. [book on-line] (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999, accessed 21 November 2006), 17.
• Jeffrey T. Richelson, The U.S. Intelligence Community, 4th ed. [book on-line] (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1999, accessed 21 November 2006), 17.
• Amy B. Zegart, Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC [book on-line] (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999, accessed 21 November 2006), 56.
• Amy B. Zegart, Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC [book on-line] (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999, accessed 21 November 2006), 188-189.
• Amy B. Zegart, Flawed by Design: The Evolution of the CIA, JCS, and NSC [book on-line] (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1999, accessed 21 November 2006), 189.

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• Term Paper # 118704 : "The US Intelligence Community"

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