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Analytic Culture in the U.S. Intelligence Community (PDF) - CIA

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CHAPTER SIX<br />

The Question of Foreign <strong>Culture</strong>s: Combat<strong>in</strong>g<br />

Ethnocentrism <strong>in</strong> <strong>Intelligence</strong> Analysis<br />

The <strong>in</strong>telligence literature often cautions <strong>in</strong>telligence professionals to be<br />

wary of mirror imag<strong>in</strong>g. 1 Although <strong>the</strong> term is a misnomer (a mirror image is<br />

a reverse image), <strong>the</strong> concept is that <strong>in</strong>dividuals perceive foreigners—both<br />

friends and adversaries of <strong>the</strong> United States—as th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> same way as<br />

Americans. 2 Individuals do, <strong>in</strong> fact, have a natural tendency to assume that<br />

o<strong>the</strong>rs th<strong>in</strong>k and perceive <strong>the</strong> world <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> same way <strong>the</strong>y do. This type of projective<br />

identification, or ethnocentrism, is <strong>the</strong> consequence of a comb<strong>in</strong>ation<br />

of cognitive and cultural biases result<strong>in</strong>g from a lifetime of enculturation, culturally<br />

bound heuristics, and miss<strong>in</strong>g, or <strong>in</strong>adequate, <strong>in</strong>formation. 3<br />

Ethnocentrism is a phenomenon that operates on a conscious level, but it is<br />

difficult to recognize <strong>in</strong> oneself and equally difficult to counteract. In part, this<br />

is because, <strong>in</strong> cases of ethnocentric th<strong>in</strong>k<strong>in</strong>g, an <strong>in</strong>dividual does not recognize<br />

that important <strong>in</strong>formation is miss<strong>in</strong>g or, more important, that his worldview<br />

and problem-solv<strong>in</strong>g heuristics <strong>in</strong>terfere with <strong>the</strong> process of recogniz<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>formation<br />

that conflicts or refutes his assumptions.<br />

Take, for example, <strong>the</strong> proposition that o<strong>the</strong>rs do not th<strong>in</strong>k like Americans.<br />

It seems only <strong>in</strong>tuitive that o<strong>the</strong>r tribes, ethnic groups, nationalities, and states<br />

1<br />

Alexander Butterfield, The Accuracy of <strong>Intelligence</strong> Assessment; Richards J. Heuer, Jr., Psychology<br />

of <strong>Intelligence</strong> Analysis; Lisa Krizan, <strong>Intelligence</strong> Essentials for Everyone; J. R. Thompson,<br />

R. Hopf-Weichel, and R. Geiselman, The Cognitive Bases of <strong>Intelligence</strong> Analysis.<br />

2<br />

In this work, I use <strong>the</strong> broader term “ethnocentrism” to refer to <strong>the</strong> concept represented by mirror<br />

imag<strong>in</strong>g and projective identification .<br />

3<br />

In anthropology, ethnocentrism is <strong>the</strong> tendency to judge <strong>the</strong> customs of o<strong>the</strong>r societies by <strong>the</strong><br />

standards of one's own culture. This <strong>in</strong>cludes project<strong>in</strong>g one’s own cognition and norms onto o<strong>the</strong>rs.<br />

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