Introduction: beyond the Intelligence Cycle?

Abstract

The Intelligence Cycle It is useful to begin with a description of the Intelligence Cycle to ensure a baseline level of understanding among all readers before moving on to engage with the critiques that make up the main body of this book.4 While there have been some differences in the way in which the Intelligence Cycle has been represented,5 in its most widely discussed form the Intelligence Cycle can be considered to comprise five distinct stages. The entire cycle begins with the planning and direction stage, in which the customers for the intelligence product – policy-makers in the case of national security intelligence – request intelligence on a particular issue or specific target. Once directed by the customer, the second stage of the cycle, collection, begins. This involvesaccessing the raw information that will be required for the finished intelligence product to be produced. Contemporary intelligence collection draws on a wide range of sources, usually categorised in terms of various “INTs”. As outlined by the CIA, there are six categories of these, involving a total of nine INTs:• Signals intelligence (SIGINT) is derived from signals intercepts comprising, however transmitted – either individually or in combination, all communications intelligence (COMINT), electronic intelligence (ELINT), or foreign instrumentation signals intelligence (FISINT).