Making Intelligence Smarter

Task Force Report
Analysis and policy prescriptions of major foreign policy issues facing the United States, developed through private deliberations among a diverse and distinguished group of experts.

More on:

Intelligence

The need for intelligence, and for a capability within the U.S. government to collect, produce, and disseminate it, remains critical. The end of the Cold War will not usher in an age of peace and security. Nor is the need for intelligence eliminated by new sources of open information. There are still important but hard to learn facts about targets---the intentions and capabilities or rogue states and terrorists, the proliferation of unconventional weapons, the disposition of potentially hostile military forces---that can only be identified, monitored, and measured through dedicated intelligence assets. The United States will have to continue to devote significant resources to intelligence if it wants an enhanced capability. The money will be well spent if it improves the effectiveness of diplomatic and military undertakings. Good intelligence cannot guarentee good policy, but poor intelligence frequently contributes to policy failure.

This is a principal finding of a report of a Task Force of former government officials, military officers, businessmen, and scholars. This report offers judgments and makes recommendations on some of the most important questions affecting the future of U.S. national security: priorities for intelligence collection, the role of economic intelligence, improving analysis and increasing its impact, the future of clandestine activities, reorganizing the intelligence community, intelligence ties with both the military and law enforcement, and congressional and public oversight.

More on:

Intelligence

Task Force Members

Task Force Members:

MORTON I. ABRAMOWITZ: Mr. Abramowitz is President of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was Ambassador to Turkey and served as Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research.

RICHARD K. BETTS: Mr. Betts is Professor of Political Science and Director of the International Security Policy Program in the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University.

PAUL BRACKEN: Mr. Bracken is Professor of Management and of Political Science at Yale University. He also serves on the Chief of Naval Operations Executive Panel and on the Army Science Board.

CHESTER A. CROCKER: Mr. Crocker is Research Professor of Diplomacy at Georgetown University. He also serves as Chairman of the Board of the United States Institute of Peace and was formerly Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs.

JAMES H. EVANS: Mr. Evans is former Chairman and CEO of Union Pacific Corporation. He has also served as President and a Director of Union Pacific and as President and Chairman of the Seamens Bank for Saving.

LESLIE H. GELB: Mr. Gelb is President of the Council on Foreign Relations. He was a foreign affairs columnist and Editor of the Op-Ed page for The New York Times. He also served as Director of the State Departments Bureau of Politico-Military Affairs.

PAUL E. GRAY: Mr. Gray is Chairman of the Corporation for Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Previously, he served as MITs President and as Chancellor of the Institute.

MAURICE R. GREENBERG: Mr. Greenberg is Chairman and CEO of American International Group, Inc.

HENRY A. GRUNWALD: Mr. Grunwald is former Editor-in-Chief of Time, Inc.

RICHARD N. HAASS: Mr. Haass is Director of National Security Programs and Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. He served as Special Assistant to President George Bush and Senior Director for Near East and South Asian Affairs of the National Security Council.

WILLIAM HOOD: Mr. Hood is a former Executive Officer of the Counterintelligence Staff of the CIA.

CORDELL HULL: Mr. Hull is Executive Vice Chairman of Bechtel Enterprises, Inc.

RICHARD KERR: Mr. Kerr is former Deputy Director of the CIA and Deputy Director of Central Intelligence. He also served as Acting Director of Central Intelligence.

JOSHUA LEDERBERG: Mr. Lederberg is University Professor and President Emeritus as well as Sackler Foundation Scholar at The Rockefeller University.

JESSICA T. MATHEWS: Ms. Mathews is Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and a columnist for The Washington Post. She served as Deputy to the Under Secretary of State for Global Affairs and was Vice President of the World Resources Institute.

MERRILL A. MCPEAK*: General McPeak (U.S. Air Force, retired) is President of McPeak and Associates. He was formerly Chief of Staff of the U.S. Air Force.

LIONEL OLMER: Mr. Olmer is a partner in the law firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He was formerly Under Secretary of Commerce for International Trade.

EDWIN J. PECHOUS: Mr. Pechous is an independent consultant and recently retired senior U.S. government official who spent much of his career with the CIA.

JAMES D. ROBINSON III: Mr. Robinson is President of J. D. Robinson, Inc. He was formerly Chairman and CEO of American Express.

BRENT SCOWCROFT: General Scowcroft (U.S. Air Force, retired) is President of the Forum for International Policy and the Scowcroft Group. He was National Security Adviser for Presidents George Bush and Gerald Ford.

ANGELA E. STENT: Ms. Stent is Professor of Government at Georgetown University.

GORDON RUSSELL SULLIVAN: General Sullivan (U.S. Army, retired) is Corporate Vice President of Coleman Research Corporation. He was formerly Chief of Staff of the U.S. Army.

ROBERT C. WAGGONER: Mr. Waggoner is President of Burrelles Information Services. He is also Chairman of Video Monitoring Services of America, Inc.

JOHN L. WEINBERG: Mr. Weinberg is Senior Chairman of Goldman Sachs & Company.

FRANK G. ZARB: Mr. Zarb is President and CEO of Alexander and Alexander Services, Inc. He has served as Vice Chairman and Group Chief Executive of the Travelers Inc. and as Chairman and CEO of Smith Barney.

Observers

CHARLES BATTAGLIA: Mr. Battaglia is Majority Staff Director for the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He worked for the CIA in the early 1980s.

MARK LOWENTHAL: Mr. Lowenthal is Staff Director for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. He has served as a senior analyst at the Congressional Research Service and in the State Departments Bureau of Intelligence and Research.

BRITT SNIDER: Mr. Snider is Staff Director of the Commission on the Roles and Capabilities of the United States Intelligence Community.

Top Stories on CFR

United States

Each Friday, I look at what the presidential contenders are saying about foreign policy. This Week: Joe Biden doesn’t want one of America’s closest allies to buy a once iconic American company.

Immigration and Migration

Dara Lind, a senior fellow at the American Immigration Council, sits down with James M. Lindsay to discuss the record surge in migrants and asylum seekers crossing the U.S. southern border.

Center for Preventive Action

Every January, CFR’s annual Preventive Priorities Survey analyzes the conflicts most likely to occur in the year ahead and measures their potential impact. For the first time, the survey anticipates that this year, 2024, the United States will contend not only with a slew of global threats, but also a high risk of upheaval within its own borders. Is the country prepared for the eruption of election-related instability at home while wars continue to rage abroad?