Choices for Western Intelligence: The Security of the Twenty-first Century
The events of 9/11 and subsequent acts of jihadist terrorism, together with the failures of intelligence agencies over Iraq’s Weapons of Mass Destruction, have arguably heralded a new age of intelligence. For some, this takes the form of a crisis of legitimacy. For others, the threat of cataclysmic terrorism involving chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear attack provides a new and worrying context that intelligence failure is inevitable. The conference explored the challenges facing intelligence in the 21st century and how intelligence has clearly taken on new forms and new agendas. The conference was attended by a variety of international scholars, journalists, former practitioners and other specialists. A workshop for PhD students provided an opportunity for emerging scholars in the field with an outlet for work in progress papers and to explore research methodological issues.
The conference heard a variety of theoretical and historical perspectives from leading international authorities. Some of these were published in a Special Issue of Intelligence and National Security, Len Scott, R. Gerald Hughes and Martin S. Alexander (eds), Change, Crisis and Transformation: Challenges for Western Intelligence in the Twenty-first Century, Intelligence and National Security 24/1 (February, 2009). A book based on this special issue is now being prepared for publication in the Routledge S tudies in Intelligence series.