American Counterintelligence and Security for the 21st Century
The current mission, organization, size, structure, and doctrines of the American Counterintelligence and protective security communities are once again at issue. The events of 9/11, the several wars in the Middle East and central Asia, and the coming of the “information age” have raised fundamental questions about the purpose and mission of U.S. counterintelligence and security policies and capabilities, and even about the place of security and secrecy as elements of national security policy in American life. Attention is also focused once again on longstanding questions of the performance and effectiveness of these capabilities and the communities that support them.
The seminar will build on an understanding of the complicated theoretical, functional and practical relationships between intelligence and policy and the roles of intelligence, protective security and counterintelligence in our democracy developed in other courses.
In the practical world of statecraft, these elements have several “great purposes” including: (1) the gathering (and protection) of secrets, (2) the discernment and validation of the information and information and images which other nations present to us, and (3) the counterintelligence activities which we take to disrupt and deny foreign intelligence activities which target us. In this seminar, we will examine these functions and how they might be successful in the face of 21st Century challenges.
Semester Available
Fall Semester
Part of
Electives (Choose at least 3) Counterintelligence and Foreign Intelligence Choose Three of the Following Courses Specialization in IntelligencePrincipal Professor
Kenneth deGraffenreid 
