Constructing Cassandra: Reframing Intelligence Failure at the CIA, 1947-2001 - Softcover

Jones, Milo

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0804793360 ISBN 13: 9780804793360

Publisher: Stanford University Press, 2013

Synopsis

When it was created in 1947, the CIA had a clear remit to prevent strategic surprises. On key occasions, it has failed spectacularly. How is this possible? Although there has been no shortage of studies exploring how intelligence failures can happen, none of them have been able to provide a unified understanding of the phenomenon. Constructing Cassandra analyzes four key strategic surprises experienced by the US:  the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, the Iranian revolution of 1978, the collapse of the USSR in 1991, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The book traces the ultimate origin of these seemingly diverse surprises to the enduring collective identity and culture of the Agency itself.

About this title

About the Author:

Milo Jones is Managing Director of a consulting firm and teaches geopolitics and strategy as a Visiting Professor at IE Business School in Madrid, Spain. Philippe Silberzahn is Professor of Strategy at EMLyon Business School in France and a Research Fellow at Ecole Polytechnique in France.

Review:

"Jones and Silberzahn have crafted an insightful masterpiece to frame the true nature of the CIA... Their purpose is not to craft lofty goals the agency will never reach but rather to examine the reasons why the agency failed in the past. I recommend this book to anyone with a passion in understanding the analytical framework of the CIA and who seeks to comprehend the theoretical approach, through the uses of organizational theory, in uncovering its internal mysteries." - Ross W. Clark in Parameters, the quarterly journal of the US Army War College, Vol. 43, No. 4, Winter 2013-13. 

"This smoothly written and sophisticated study of intelligence analysis will appeal to a broad audience . . . [The authors'] social science approach, lack of ideological bias, and ability to dissect organizational behavior produce a masterful account.. .Recommended. Choice Magazine, May, 2014 ala.org/acrl/choice/

The authors conduct an inquiry into CIA intelligence failures that resulted in the US experiencing four key surprises:  the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Iranian Revolution, the collapse of the Soviet Union and 9/11. They offer a systematic explanation of the sources of the CIA's intelligence failures and suggest ways to prevent future mistakes."  International Institute for Strategic Studies journal Survival Volume 56, Issue 6 (December 2014-January 2015).

About this edition

• Publisher: Stanford University Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0804793360
• ISBN 13: 9780804793360
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 388