Intelligence reform and counterterrorism effectiveness

Essay from the year 2005 in the subject Politics - International Politics - Region: USA grade: A University of Cincinnati language: English abstract: Subsequent to the 9/11 terrorist attacks a sustained effort has been undertaken to reform the American intelligence agencies. The establishment of a terrorism czar with more authority than the Director of the CIA used to have as coordinator of the intelligence enterprise and with a supporting bureaucratic structure to this end should lead to more unified coordinated and effective intelligence in particular in the context of counterterrorism. The Intelligence Community has undergone previous organisational centralisation reforms and yet it failed to provide timely and accurate intelligence about the 9/11 terrorist threat. A series of legitimate questions therefore arise: is centralisation the wrong solution to the problem of intelligence effectiveness? Is rather decentralisation the key? Has structure any influence on the way intelligence agencies perform? Answering these questions would reveal whether the adjustments to the structure of the Intelligence Community are justified or on the contrary determined by empirical fallacies such as the quick-fix reorganisation syndrome. In a broader context it would be also useful to know whether and how the effectiveness of counterterrorism intelligence could be improved by means of organisational structure. This research question implies the scholarly literature of two disciplines: organisation theory and political science (International Relations and Security Studies - Terrorism). The nature and functioning of organisations in particular decentralisation and its effects on effectiveness have been studied at the level of business and bureaucratic organisations whereas studies on intelligence and its effectiveness are present within a broad range of security studies areas including the newer - terrorism/ counterterrorism. Answering the above research q