Words of Intelligence: A Dictionary - Softcover

Goldman, Jan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0810856417 ISBN 13: 9780810856417

Publisher: The Scarecrow Press, Inc., 2006

Synopsis

Words of Intelligence: A Dictionary is intended for the intelligence and national security men and women who are fighting the Global War on Terrorism at all levels: local, state, and federal. The intelligence community has undergone massive changes since the Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, and the Department of Defense were created, and recently, with the establishment of Homeland Security and a Director of National Intelligence, it has taken on even more duties and responsibilities. Intelligence now must be transmitted to state and local public administrators, health officials, and transportation planners (to name just a few) in times of a possible domestic attack. Containing over 600 terms related to theoretical aspects of intelligence, intelligence operations, intelligence strategies, security classification of information, obscure names of intelligence boards and organizations, and homeland security, this dictionary is an invaluable tool for those requiring a working knowledge of intelligence-related issues. A topical index is also included.

About this title

About the Author

Jan Goldman is a professor for the study of strategic warning and threat management at the Joint Military Intelligence College in Washington, DC., where he also teaches ethics and intelligence. He is also the author of Ethics of Spying: A Reader for the Intelligence Professional (2006).

Reviews

As noted in the foreword, with the creation of Homeland Security, the need for a standard vocabulary for the intelligence community became a priority. This concise dictionary is an attempt to document the operational and evolving intelligence vocabulary.

More than 600 entries range in length from one or two sentences to a paragraph, with the occasional page-long entry (derogatory information, for example). Librarians and information professionals will find the five pages of definitions for terms beginning with information as defined in the intelligence context to be of special interest. Starting with analysis and finishing with information warriors, the way the intelligence community perceives informationand its use is unique. Mixed in with the entries for intelligence terms are brief definitions of key events that were either missed, affected, or successfully noted through the use of intelligence, including Iran, fall of the shah; Korean War;and Yom-Kippur War. The dictionary concludes with 20 pages of notes along with an appendix of what author Goldman considers essential Web sites of intelligence agencies in the U.S. as well as selected international agencies. Before the dictionary proper are 20 pages of acronyms used in the U.S. government and military.

This is a unique title for the uninitiated. It would be of interest in public libraries--although the paperback binding would not hold up--and in universities teaching in the security and intelligence disciplines. Recommended. Terri Tomchyshyn
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Edition details

• Publisher: The Scarecrow Press, Inc.
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0810856417
• ISBN 13: 9780810856417
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 206