Why Intelligence Agencies And Analysts Exist - 1468 Words

One of the four primary reasons why intelligence agencies and analysts exist is to support the policy process, which consequently impacts national security decisions. As a result, intelligence community analysts and decision makers must maintain a relationship with policy makers. However, there is an ongoing debate within the intelligence community, academic institutions, and the public regarding the distant and proximate models of this relationship. In an effort to determine the best possible relationship model between intelligence analysts and policy makers, the roots of both the distant and proximate models will be discussed; then, a stance will be taken on what the preferred model should be and supported based off the evidence†¦show more content†¦Additionally, the distant relationship model enables analysts to work on a problem set of their choice as long as it is within the bounds set by their intelligence manager. While enabling analysts to have such freedoms is perceived as a positive it can also be a negative. Intelligence analysts own agenda can take the forefront while their consumers needs lose the necessary precedence. Also as a result of being too distant from the policy maker, the needs of the policy maker may not be known; therefore, intelligence may not be produced on a problem set of interest to the policy world. According to Johnson and Wirtz, the second school of thought, the proximate model, receives its origins from Robert Gates, former Director of Central Intelligence and Secretary Of Defense. In the mid-1980s Robert Gates, while serving as the Deputy Director for Analysis at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), spearheaded the notion of actionable intelligence, when he became upset with the agency s analysts, who blatantly disregarded request to fulfill policy makers’ needs. Gates argued that by producing actionable intelligence, intelligence analysts must remain cognizant of policy maker needs, resulting in a more relevant finished intelligence product. Thus, the proximate relationship model between intelligence analysts and policy makers was formed. As is the case with any model, the