Module SGIA3771: Intelligence, The State and International Security

Department: Government and International Affairs

SGIA3771: Intelligence, The State and International Security

Prerequisites

• Any Level 2 SGIA module

Corequisites

• None

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None

Aims

• The module aims to introduce students to how the use (and abuse) of intelligence impacts upon contemporary politics and international security. The module focuses on what constitutes intelligence, its use as a function of government, its role in the decision-making process, and the extent to which the production and use of intelligence can be explained by either (a) reference to competing theoretical traditions (positivism/constructivism) or (b) conditioned by ethical or legal norms in how assessments are made, or operations conducted. By the end of the module, students will have gained a conceptual understanding of the differing ways intelligence informs policy and state-led action in the international system, the legal and normative debates over how intelligence is used, and the extent to which these debates have traction in explaining how intelligence is used and viewed beyond the Anglosphere. The module not only nurtures an understanding over the conceptual approaches surrounding intelligence, but allows students to critically reflect upon the development of secret institutions of the state and how, in turn, such institutions can ever be held accountable for their actions

Content

• This module offers a conceptual and empirical understanding of the role played by intelligence, intelligence agencies and their (largely) states sponsors in the international system. Students will become familiar with how positivist and constructivist critiques offer contrasting understandings of the intelligence cycle, with students being encouraged to think through how this impact upon state decision-making and the conduct of intelligence led operations in the international arena, ranging from influence operations, through to covert action and targeted assassination. Equally, students will be encouraged to apply constructs of intelligence conceptually and empirically beyond the Anglosphere to consider how intelligence is understood, managed, and indeed politicized in the Global South and impacts upon regional security. The module is divided into two sections. Section one concentrates on the conceptual approaches to the study of intelligence; section two explores these issues within a series of case-study based settings. Indicative module content may include:
• What is intelligence? The problem of Epistemology.
• Gathering Intelligence: From HUMINT to Cyber.
• Intelligence: National Priorities, Analysis, and the Policy Interface.
• Intelligence: Ethics, Oversight, International Law and Whistleblowers.
• Intelligence: The Politics of Intelligence Failure.
• Intelligence Liaison: Bargaining Sovereignty and Cultural solidarities.
• Intelligence: Betrayal and the Greater Good - From Philby to Snowden.
• Counterintelligence: Surveillance, the State and counterterrorism.
• Intelligence and Covert Action: From influence operations to targeted assassination.
• Intelligence beyond the Anglosphere: The Global South and Regional Intelligence

Learning Outcomes

• Through the module students will gain an understanding and subject specific knowledge of:
• The core and competing conceptual approaches to the study of intelligence.
• The ability to critically apply such approaches to case studies and to recognise how intelligence drives specific decisions and outcomes.
• The ability to identify how and under what conditions confirmation bias conditions the use of intelligence in real world settings and how such bias is addressed.
• An understanding of intelligence methodologies and how this shapes the input of information through the intelligence cycle.
• Appreciation of how differing intelligence cultures can and do inform decision-making processes and define how intelligence becomes embedded in national identities.

• Students will also develop some subject specific skills, such as:
• The ability to critique, develop and apply relevant concepts, theories and approaches towards the study of intelligence related cases studies and themes.
• To develop an understanding of how conscious and unconscious bias, as well as social milieu impacts upon the production and use of intelligence.
• The ability to conduct independent research, including case study selection and conceptual framing.
• The writing and delivery of coherent and conceptually grounded briefing notes that inform the case studies discussed.
• The ability to interrogate empirical data from a conceptual standpoint that highlights the epistemological limits over how intelligence is used in pursuit of national security.

• Students will also develop some important key skills, suitable for underpinning study at this and subsequent levels, such as:
• Develop a self-critical and independent approach to learning.
• Independent learning within a defined framework of study at an advanced level.
• Independent thought in analysing and critiquing existing scholarship on the subject area and in evaluating its contribution.
• Advanced ability to seek out and use relevant data sources, including electronic and bibliographic sources, as well as primary sources, and policy reports.
• Ability for independent thinking informed by academic debate at an advanced level.
• Advanced essay-writing skills and the ability to work to a deadline.
• Effective oral and written communication of research and policy applications.
• Ability to reflect critically on their own work and performance.
• Retrieving and using with confidence resources to which they have been directed.
• Identifying resources on their own initiative and assessing their suitability and quality for the project in hand.
• Planning and successfully completing a variety of written assignments.
• Flexibility in applying knowledge to new areas and problems while working to deadlines.
• Project design and management at a group level that involves teamwork on an assigned project.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

• The teaching and assessment methods of the module provide a coherent framework for understanding what intelligence is, the use to which it is put by a range of state actors, and the impact that intelligence has on the conduct of actors in the international system.
• The module is taught by 10 x 1 hour bi-weekly lectures and 10 x 2 hour bi-weekly seminars that, collectively, cover the core conceptual elements of intelligence and their application to a critical analysis intelligence concepts and relevant case studies.
• The bi-weekly lecture introduces students to the core conceptual approaches towards the study of intelligence, and how these concepts can be used to inform selected cases studies that inform decision-making, and the choices made by actors in pursuit of interests in the international system. The lectures provide a primer for the bi-weekly two-hour seminar. Topics discussed as part of small group work reflect the issues outlined in the lecture, which serves as a guide for the relevant readings and small group presentations ahead of the seminar.
• Through the seminars, students develop their conceptual understanding of intelligence and how this can be applied to understanding the case studies to be discussed. Here, groups will be expected to work collectively in developing a ‘national intelligence estimate’ against a selected case study. While non-assessed, this will give students hands-on experience of collaborative research, presenting research findings as a group, as well as being a useful primer for the one of the core summative elements of the module.
• Seminars provide students with the forum to reflect and discuss the concepts introduced in the lectures and how they might be applied to the relevant case studies. Students will be assigned to designated groups (ensuring appropriate gender balance) where they will work collectively on an assigned topic based on a series of set questions.
• Seminars will also be supplemented by 4 x 1 hour pre-recorded guest presentations by former intelligence practitioners and scholars of intelligence.
• Students will be expected to submit 1 x 1500 formative essay consisting of a brief literature of the conceptual approaches towards understanding a given aspect of intelligence production. This will be submitted in week 8 of the Michaelmas Term.
• Students will be expected to submit 1 x 3000 words essay (50 per cent of the overall assessment) in the Easter Term that demonstrates the ability to understand competing approaches to the study of intelligence and their application to real case studies. The essay is designed to help students develop critical analysis, research skills and independent thinking. Students will be expected to use at least one case study that has NOT been discussed as part of the module.
• Students will also be expected to produce a National Intelligence Estimate on an agreed topic of contemporary relevance. This NIE brief of 2000 words forms 50 per cent of the overall assessment.
• Students will have access to extended office hours 10 working days prior to the submission of each assignment. Students will be seen on an individual basis and be given extensive feedback on essay plans and the production of the NIE. Face to Face feedback sessions will also be supplemented by online consultations that can be configured around the learning experience of the students.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Formative Assessment: 1 x 1500-word essay form an approved list,1 group NIE presentation 2000 words. This is preparation for students in how to prepare their own individual NIE as part of the summative assessment.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University