The challenge of domestic intelligence in a free society a multidisciplinary look at the creation of a U.S. domestic counterterrorism intelligence agency (Rand Corp., 2009)
Title from electronic t.p. (viewed on Feb. 6, 2009). - This research was sponsored by the United States Department of Homeland Security and was conducted jointly under the auspices of the Homeland Security Program within RAND Infrastructure, Safety, and Environment and the Intelligence Policy Center of the National Security Research Division
Includes bibliographical references
Introduction -- The History of Domestic Intelligence in the United States: Lessons for Assessing the Creation of a New Counterterrorism Intelligence Agency -- Current Domestic Intelligence Efforts in the United States -- Societal Acceptability of Domestic Intelligence -- The Law and the Creation of a New Domestic Intelligence Agency in the United States -- Weighing Organizational Models for a New Domestic Intelligence Agency -- Exploring Measures of Effectiveness for Domestic Intelligence: Addressing Questions of Capability and Acceptability -- Exploring the Utility for Considering Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Domestic Intelligence Policy Change -- Conclusion
Whether U.S. terrorism-prevention efforts match the threat continues to be central in policy debate. Part of this debate is whether the United States needs a dedicated domestic counterterrorism intelligence agency. To inform future policy decisionmaking, this book examines, from a variety of perspectives, the policy proposal that such an agency be created. These include its possible capabilities, comparing its potential effectiveness with that of current efforts, and its acceptability to the public, as well as various balances and trade-offs involved in creating such an agency. Reflecting the limits in the data available and the significant uncertainty associated with this policy area, if there is a unifying message from the study, it is one of caution and deliberation. In an area in which direct assessment and analysis are limited, there is a need to carefully consider the implications and potential outcomes of such significant policy changes. In doing so, examination from different perspectives and through different approaches -- to ideally capture a sufficient picture of the complexity to see not just the benefits we hope to gain from policy change but the layers of effects and interactions that could either help or hurt the chances of those benefits appearing -- is a critical ingredient of policy deliberation and design