PrintRequired Reading
Read Lowenthal's Chapter 12: "The Intelligence Agenda" in Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy.
As you read, do some critical thinking and ask yourself:
- The Post Cold War/Post September 11 era changed the focus of US foreign policy and thus the needs of policy makers. What are the implications for GEOINT?
- The era of the Global War on Terrorism has been succeeded by a focus on possible conflict with “near peer competitors” such as China and Russia. What are the implications for GEOINT?
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Compare and contrast Lowenthal’s priority changes between the 8th and 9th editions. Why have these priorities changed, and what is the impact on GEOINT
Note how Lowenthal’s priorities changed in Chapter 12 between the eighth and ninth additions. He promoted Heath Issues presumably due to the COVID 19 pandemic and concerns over future pandemics. He also made Climate Change its own category. While there are still "climate deniers” out there, the position of the US Government in the Fourth National Climate Assessment(link is external) is:
This assessment concludes, based on extensive evidence, that it is extremely likely that human activities, especially emissions of greenhouse gases, are the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid-20th century. For the warming over the last century, there is no convincing alternative explanation supported by the extent of the observational evidence.Highlights of the Findings of the U.S. Global Change Research Program Climate Science Special Report (2017).
The assessment goes on to indicate there will be serious issues for US national security due to global climate change. I’ll let you speculate on why he dropped Peacekeeping Operations from the list.
| 8th Edition Intelligence Priorities (2019) |
9th Edition Intelligence Priorities (2023) |
|---|---|
| Cyberspace | Cyberspace |
| Terrorism | Terrorism |
| Proliferation | Proliferation |
| Narcotics | Health Issues |
| Economics | Climate Change |
| Demographics | Narcotics |
| Health and Environment | Economics and Energy |
| Peacekeeping Operations | Demographics |
| Support to Military | Support to Military |
Knowledge Check
Prepare for the quiz by answering the following questions.