Less is more, and more professional: reflections on building an ‘ideal’ intelligence program

Abstract

Offered the chance to create an intelligence studies program from scratch at The Catholic University of America, this recently retired career CIA officer and historian decided on two fundamentals. First, an ideal intelligence program would take a ‘Goldilocks’ approach, neither relegating intelligence to the fringes (as academia has done in the past) nor elevating it to a degree program (as is the approach at dozens of US colleges and universities). Because US intelligence agencies prefer their candidates for employment to have substantive knowledge of global issues and language skills, a certificate or minor program in intelligence will educate students about intelligence without depriving them of the opportunity to major in a substantive field. Second, an ideal program will involve former professional intelligence officers to a high degree; too many academic programs in intelligence suffer from the metaphorical ‘Bulgaria problem’ in which alleged experts on Bulgaria don’t speak the language, have never been to Bulgaria, and don’t see their lack of experience on Bulgaria as a problem. Smaller programs, taught mostly by retired practitioners, are the ideal for intelligence studies.