Global Agenda 2003 - Final Assignment 6-Honors

Preamble:

This semester, you have observed a variety of “practitioners” of foreign affairs, all involved in some way with the issue of intelligence and espionage. Each is involved in somewhat different aspects, each with a unique perspective. You have had a chance to hear them talk and to interact with them about their professions and their lives, as well as about the substance of their work.

At the same time, you’ve lived through a period of questioning whether the intelligence community has adequately served the nation in both the September 11, 2001 and the Iraq War 2003 episodes.

Write:

Honors students have a choice of either assignment. You may choose this Honors assignment, or you may choose to write the same assignment as others in the class. Neither choice is preferred. It’s your choice.

You are the President of the United States. It’s late spring. You decide to take a long weekend at Camp David, the Presidential retreat, where you can spend some time walking in the woods, talking with your closest advisers, and avoiding public statements to the news media.

With a fire crackling in the lodge on a crisp spring evening and a glass of something soothing to drink, you sit down at your diary and ruminate about how intelligence and espionage serve the country. For months, you’ve read on the subject and had advice from many experts, including (but not limited to):

professors who compared the real world of intelligence to the Hollywood version
a top-ranking CIA executive who has managed covert operations and analysis for several previous presidents
a Cold War agent who worked for the Soviet Union, but now advises the United States
a CIA officer who specialized in rooting out moles in the U.S. and preventing foreign agents from scoring against the U.S.
an intelligence officer who spent her career analyzing information about the Middle East and terrorism in the Arab world
a specialist in signals intelligence
an analyst of satellite and aircraft spy photography
a national newspaper reporter who regularly breaks news about covert U.S. actions and failures in the intelligence community
a military intelligence specialist who trains Army officers
a professor/journalist who has covered intelligence and foreign affairs for many years and has observed on news media and public interaction with intelligence and espionage

Write your presidential “memoir” of the intelligence challenges of the past four months, not so much recounting events as synthesizing what you have discovered about the craft of intelligence and espionage. How have these practitioners affected your thinking, your understanding of the field? How have they influenced your understanding of how the U.S. can best use and might improve its information on international events. Remember: this is a memoir, a rumination; you’re encouraged to reveal candidly any “surprises” you encountered along the way and to indicate how these practitioners confirmed or refuted your own preconceptions. Is there anything you wish the American people understood better about the netherworld of intelligence? How might you facilitate that knowledge? Is it a "noble" profession or a "dirty" one? Draw on common or contrasting themes you discovered in your readings and as you met the visiting speakers in the “Spies, Lies & Sneaky Guys” series.

Use specific examples from our speakers, your readings and our classes. Remember that webcasts of most of our speakers are available via the course web site, should you wish to review their remarks or obtain direct quotes.

Because this is a “memoir,” you need not use formal source citations. But if you wish to do so, you may.

Aim for about 5-7 pages. This is a “think piece,” an essay. There’s no “right answer.”