The Five Disciplines of Intelligence Collection
- Mark M. Lowenthal - Intelligence & Security Academy, LLC
- Robert M. Clark
An all-new groundbreaking title on Intelligence Collection
International Intelligence
Leading intelligence experts Mark M. Lowenthal and Robert M. Clark bring together an all new, groundbreaking title. The Five Disciplines of Intelligence Collection describes, in non-technical terms, the definition, history, process, management, and future trends of each intelligence collection source (INT). Authoritative and non-polemical, this book is the perfect teaching tool for classes addressing various types of collection. Chapter authors are past or current senior practitioners of the INT they discuss, providing expert assessment of ways particular types of collection fit within the larger context of the U.S. Intelligence Community. This volume shows all-source analysts a full picture of how to better task and collaborate with their collection partners, and gives intelligence collectors an appreciation of what happens beyond their “stovepipes,” as well as a clear assessment of the capabilities and limitations of INT collection.
“The Five Disciplines of Intelligence Collection fills a real need for a basic guide to the key intelligence disciplines. It will be especially useful to intelligence practitioners and users of intelligence who need to know how intelligence is collected as well as the strengths and limitations of collection methods. Those who teach intelligence and national security issues, as I do, will find this book of immense utility. Lowenthal and Clark are extremely well qualified to compile this work because both are "insider" career intelligence professionals of the highest order who know their subject.”
“Lowenthal and Clark have done us a major service with this edited work. By organizing it around the five major intelligence “disciplines” (human, signals, geospatial, measurement and signature, and open source), they show us how each has developed over time, in collecting and analyzing information, in support of U.S. national security. Though all the authors have technical expertise, the work is clearly written and is accessible to a wide variety of audiences, including students, novice analysts, policymakers, and even the public, who need to understand the strengths—and limitations—of intelligence. I highly recommend it.”
The textbook provides a basic overview of the five Intelligence collection disciplines that is easily digestible for undergraduates and establishes a solid framework for students to then apply the information to case studies and practical exercises.