Abstract :
The UK intelligence system is engaged in three distinct roles – producing strategicassessments in the traditional way; acting as a ‘global policeman’ by monitoring terroristand criminal networks; and raising the capability of other countries to defeat terrorist andinsurgency groups. Counter-intuitively, it is perhaps the first role that is most questionable.The use of single source intelligence reporting, drawn from individuals selected principallyfor their willingness to share secrets, may not be the best way to analyse emerging issuessuch as climate change, energy security and financial stability. The Joint IntelligenceCommittee (JIC) may be drawing on too narrow a range of reporting to compete withincreasingly sophisticated assessments from the private sector, academia and NGOs. In anyevent, the JIC has less impact on policy than is often imagined. The second task of ‘globalnetworker’ is better-suited to the intelligence community’s ability to combine humanintelligence with communications intelligence and bulk data gathering, and is producingresults. The third task of helping other countries to enforce the law and resist insurgency isproceeding on an ad hoc basis with occasional successes, but requires co-ordination acrossWhitehall so that improvements in the capabilities of other countries’ intelligence servicesare accompanied by improved police and justice systems and enhanced oversight. JointIntelligence Committee perhaps ought to be a Joint Action Committee.
