DSS 745 - Intelligence and War

Credit Hours: 3

Intelligence long has been a core component of wars. This course will examine the role of intelligence in preparing national military strategies and armed forces prior to armed conflicts, use of deception to produce surprise attacks that often initiate hostilities, the role of intelligence in supporting conventional military operations of states and coalitions, the intelligence activities of insurgent and terrorist groups, intelligence-informed counterinsurgency operations of states, and the use of intelligence by the United Nations in peace operations. It will describe and assess a wide range of civilian and military organizations that produce and consume war-related intelligence, and it will examine factors that drive the performance of intelligence in war, including challenges of collection, analysis, counterintelligence, and the interactions of intelligence organizations with senior political and military leaders. The course will examine examples of successful and unsuccessful intelligence support to military operations and national war-related policymaking, including case studies of the intelligence activities of many countries and non-state actors from World War II to the contemporary role of intelligence in the Russia-Ukraine war.

Lecture Contact Hours: 3

Typically Offered: Spring