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Critical Thinking and Intelligence Analysis

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A missile–launching complex is not easily disguised…[Such]<br />

an installation…could be hidden from ground‐level view.<br />

But from above, however, it could <strong>and</strong> did stick out like a<br />

sore thumb. 73<br />

Allison <strong>and</strong> Zelikow note that the Soviets only began to camouflage<br />

the sites after “the U.S. announced the discovery of the missiles <strong>and</strong><br />

announced the blockade.” 74<br />

They conclude that the Soviet forces<br />

building the bases lacked personnel <strong>and</strong> resources to conceal them<br />

– a situation that apparently changed only after the missiles had<br />

been discovered. 75<br />

The Roles of <strong>Critical</strong> <strong>Thinking</strong> in the<br />

Cuban Crisis<br />

Merom’s critique of the <strong>Intelligence</strong> Community’s estimate of<br />

Soviet intentions vis-à-vis Soviet weapons in Cuba reveals areas<br />

that would be well-served by critical thinking. First, when a critical<br />

thinking paradigm is in control, intelligence foraging <strong>and</strong> gathering<br />

are efficiently oriented. Questions are raised about the existing<br />

evidence – both anomalous <strong>and</strong> consistent – as well as where new<br />

disconfirming <strong>and</strong> confirming evidence might be discovered. Second,<br />

alternative – what in the context of Cuba, Merom calls revolutionary<br />

– theories are considered. 76 A structured process also speeds up the<br />

process of analytic sensemaking: estimates are crafted earlier. 77<br />

Third,<br />

a methodological process opens analysis to “guiding principles of<br />

73 Anatoli Gribkov, “The View from Moscow <strong>and</strong> Havana,” in Anatoli<br />

Gribkov <strong>and</strong> William Y. Smith, Operation ANADYR: U.S. <strong>and</strong> Soviet Generals Recount<br />

the Cuban Missile Crisis (Chicago, IL: Edition Q, 1994), 39. Cited hereafter as<br />

Gribkov, “The View.”<br />

74 Allison <strong>and</strong> Zelikow, Essence of Decision, 208.<br />

75 Allison <strong>and</strong> Zelikow, Essence of Decision, 214.<br />

76 Merom, “Estimate,” 71.<br />

77 Structured processes provide a framework that reduces the flailing around<br />

as analysts seek to find a starting point for their analyses. Morgan Jones discusses<br />

this at some length. See Jones, Thinker’s Toolkit, xi–xvi.<br />

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