Intelligence Archives

A Case for Intelligence Reforms in India

Publisher: Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses
2012

The Report on Intelligence Reforms in India, advocates a paradigm shift towards holistic modernisation of the current Indian intelligence setup, by bringing in radical changes in the existing intelligence culture.

ISBN 978-93-82169-03-1,
Price: ₹. 250/-
E-copy available

Open-Source Intelligence: The Tool of First Resort in Ukraine War

Reluctance to embrace the revolution in open-source intelligence would limit the effectiveness of intelligence agencies in future conflicts.

The U.S. Intelligence Community and the Roots of the Pandemic Virus

Abstract The U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) report regarding the roots of the SARS-CoV-2, as reflected in a published unclassified summary (August 2021), was excessively inconclusive, and has hence been followed,… Continue reading The U.S. Intelligence Community and the Roots of the Pandemic Virus

Interrogating ‘Hyphenated Cultures’: India’s Strategic Culture and its Intelligence Culture

In the late 1950s, the concept of 'political culture' was first developed. Towards the end of the Cold War, scholars in International Relations (IR) theory and security studies developed the concept of 'strategic culture'. Over a period, state bureaucracies were thematised by scholars of comparative politics leading to the concept of 'bureaucratic culture'. Lastly, in the second decade of the twenty-first century, a comparative turn in intelligence studies began to emerge with the concept of (national) 'intelligence culture'.

Statecraft and Intelligence Analysis in the Kautilya-Arthashastra

In the Kautilya-Arthashastra, espionage and other ‘operational’ activities of the secret service—notably ‘active measures’ and ‘covert action’—are addressed often and in detail. In contrast, Kautilya seems to say very little about intelligence analysis, assessment and estimates which provide the basis of strategic planning and grand strategy—and arekey components of statecraft. However, the central proposition of this article is that ‘ideas’ (or meanings) underlying these modern intelligence terms are very much present in the Arthashastra.