Towards more rigorous analysis

Posted on 5/11/2007 by Younghusband

As of late I have been reading and enjoying “Kent’s Imperative”:http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/, a blog about “the art & science of intelligence analysis.” One of my favourite “thinking blogs” “Zenpundit”:http://zenpundit.blogspot.com turned me on to them and I must say these guys produce high quality posts every day.

The title of the blog is a reference to “Sherman Kent”:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherman_Kent, “the father of intelligence analysis”. I have “mentioned Kent before”:http://www.cominganarchy.com/2005/10/15/words-of-estimative-probability/ on Coming Anarchy. Analytical rigor is the holy grail for paper-pushing spooks. Kent’s Imperative discusses many of the difficulties facing analysts in their quest; for example “problems with visual tools”:http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/2007/05/re-drawing-old-mappa-mentis.html, “working environment”:http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/2007/05/analytical-environments-of-others.html and “defining the problem”:http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/2007/05/analytical-problem-definition.html. Many of the same problems were tackled in my regional analysis class at RMC. I don’t know who these guys are, but their posts are well-written and very informative. If you are at all interested in the nuts and bolts of how intelligence analysis is done, this blog is highly recommended.

Added to the CA blogroll.

*ADDENDUM:* The Danger Room on the “IC hemorrhaging talent to contractors”:http://blog.wired.com/defense/2007/05/spies_thin_new_.html. KI also has more on the “failing HR processes of the IC”:http://kentsimperative.blogspot.com/2007/05/failing-hr-processes-in-ic.html.

About Younghusband

Sir Francis Edward Younghusband (1863-1942) was a British explorer, army officer, military-political officer, and foreign correspondent born in India who led expeditions into Manchuria, Kashgar, and Tibet. He three times tried and failed to scale Mt. Everest and journeyed from China to India, crossing the Gobi desert and the Mustagh Pass (alt. c.19,000 ft/5,791 m) of the Karakoram mountain range in modern day Pakistan. Convinced of Russian designs on British interests in India, Younghusband proactively engaged in the nineteenth century spying and conflict over Central Asia between the British and the Russians known as the Great Game. "Younghusband" is a Canadian who has spent a number of years bouncing back and forth between his home country and Japan. Fluent in Japanese and English with experience in numerous other languages from Spanish to Georgian, Younghusband has travelled throughout Asia. He graduated with an MA from the War Studies Department at the Royal Military College of Canada, where he focussed on the Japanese oil industry and energy security issues. He has recently returned to Canada from Japan, and is working in the technology sector.
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4 Responses to Towards more rigorous analysis

  1. a517dogg says:
    5/11/2007 at 3:28 am

    I wrote a post on intelligence and covert action today, check it out.

    http://a517dogg.blogspot.com/2007/05/congress-not-told-of-covert-action-why.html

  2. zenpundit says:
    5/11/2007 at 4:48 am

    Hi YH,

    KI is a worthy addition !

    I like their analytical methodology posts best. So few ppl take the time – introspection and metacognition require practice but they are the tools to get our thinking off ” automatic pilot”.

  3. Pingback: On Kent’s Imperative | shloky.com

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