Intelligence Education in the Americas

The notable stir in the United States security community since late 2001 promises a reeducation about the intermingling of foreign and domestic intelligence operations. Many nations in South and Central America are also debating the appropriate role of government intelligence services in their emerging democracies. Across most of the Western Hemisphere, government managers and analysts, as well as interested private citizens, must now educate themselves about both the meaning of intelligence professionalism and how to achieve an appropriate measure of it. Any intelligence service’s product can be considered an educational tool, as ‘‘insider information’ ’ and, ideally, an impartial interpretation of risks or threats for the elected leaders who may want or need a way into or out of entanglements, or a way to manipulate them. BASES FOR COMPARISON In comparing United States and Latin American intelligence services regarding preparation of their professional intelligence personnel and public knowledge about the services, readily available literature documenting national or strategic-level concepts and practices can be referred to, especially for the United States. Literature on South and Central American intelligence services has recently become more explicit and exact, thanks to authors who are closer to primary sources of information, and to a lighter veil surrounding some military intelligence Dr. Russell G. Swenson teaches courses on research methods and Latin American intelligence issues at the Joint Military Intelligence College