ENCYCLOPEDIA OF Espionage, Intelligence, and Security Volume ...

Department of State, United Statesstate and other diplomatic policymakers. Established in1946 to aid United States foreign policy and nationalsecurity goals, the bureau’s location within the Departmentof State means that it has more knowledge of policyingredients in a given estimative question than the analystsat the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) or the variousmilitary intelligence agencies. Accordingly, INR is a memberof the National Counterintelligence Policy Board (NCPB),provides briefings to the entire intelligence community,and helps oversee all U.S. government activities overseas.The primary objective of INR is to serve the Departmentof State by ensuring that intelligence activities supportforeign policy plans. It acts as the focal point in thedepartment for ensuring policy review of sensitive counterintelligenceand law enforcement activities, while alsoanalyzing geographical and international boundary issues.In support of the State Department’s responsibilityfor the oversight of all U.S. government activities overseas,INR coordinates the agency’s activities relating tointelligence, security, counterintelligence, investigative,and special operations. It sits on the NCPB and participatesin national security community decision-making onvisa denial, intelligence sharing, as well as the requirementsand evaluation for data collection in all intelligencedisciplines.INR staff draws on all-source intelligence, diplomaticreporting, its own public opinion polling, and interactionwith U.S. and foreign scholars to provide early warningand in-depth analysis of events and trends. On an annualbasis, INR analysts examine about two million reports toproduce more than 6500 written assessments that areread by officials within the State Department, embassypersonnel, the White House, the National Security Council,the Department of Defense, Congress, and the intelligencecommunity.The officers and analysts of INR draw upon a vastamount of knowledge. The bureau consists of about 300employees who are organized into 19 offices that mirrorthe other divisions of the State Department. The employees,three-fourths of whom are Civil Service and onefourthof whom come from the Foreign Service, blendboth continuity and country-specific knowledge. They utilizethirty-six different languages to integrate new data andinsights into their reports. Seventy-one percent of INRofficials hold advanced degrees, with over a quarter possessingdoctorates. On average, INR analysts and officershave spent six years within the bureau and 13 yearsstudying the country or issue for which they are responsible.Perhaps the most significant contribution that INRmakes to national security comes through its estimativeintelligence. The estimative views of INR help composethe National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) produced by theNational Intelligence Council (NIC). While most NIC officerscome from the CIA, INR officials are part of thequarter of NIC analysts that are drawn from other parts ofthe government. When few facts are available, INR analystshelp fill in the picture to predict what might be ormight happen.The major security lapses of the recent past such asthe failure to predict the true strength of Soviet militarydefenses and the surprise testing by India of a nuclearbomb have led to calls to improve U.S. intelligence capabilities.Reinvigorating the diminished place of the StateDepartment, particularly INR, in collecting and evaluatingintelligence has been proposed as one means of betteringnational security. Policymakers need estimative intelligenceto help them understand the more diffuse andambiguous threats and opportunities of the post-ColdWar world and the specific knowledge offered by INR hashistorically served as a valuable national security component.Accurate and timely intelligence is the critical firstline of defense against danger and INR provides exactlythis material.❚ FURTHER READING:BOOKS:Ford, Harold P. Estimative Intelligence: The Purposes andProblems of National Intelligence Estimating. Lanham,MD: University Press of America, 1993.ELECTRONIC:United States Intelligence Community. “Department ofState: Bureau of Intelligence and Research. (March 23,2002).SEE ALSOCIA (United States Central Intelligence Agency)Department of State, United StatesIntelligence CommunityNational Intelligence EstimateNIC (National Intelligence Council)Terrorist Organization List, United States❚ JUDSON KNIGHTDepartment of State,United StatesThe Department of State is a cabinet-level division of theUnited States government concerned with the planning,conduct, and management of U.S. foreign policy andforeign relations. The secretary of state is the highestrankingmember of the cabinet, and traditionally, secretariesof state have been among the most powerful membersof the government. The State Department includes sixmajor sections, each headed by an under secretary ofstate, concerned with Political Affairs; Economic, Business,and Agricultural Affairs; Arms Control and InternationalSecurity; Global Affairs; Management; and Public324 Encyclopedia of Espionage, Intelligence, and Security