Why still critical? Critical intelligence studies positioned in scholarship on security, war, and international relations

Abstract

ABSTRACT The launch of ‘critical intelligence studies’ (CIS) as an academic subfield in intelligence and a new strand in critical scholarship is a unique opportunity to proceed at both registers. This article positions CIS in IR-related critical studies by focusing on ‘critical security studies’ (CSS) and ‘critical war studies’ (CWS). What are the implications of the basic assumptions, concepts, theories, and methods of CSS and CWS for developing CIS? In response, CIS will be analyzed at different normative, epistemological, ontological, and methodological levels. Various implications, suggestions, and recommendations emerge from this study, seeking to contribute to critical scholarship and CIS’ research agenda.