40. What is Intelligence?

In talking about INTELLIGENCE I mean the product produced by gathering, analyzing, and dissemination about the world around us, useful to policymakers. The word has many connotations, most prominently that of cognitive abilities, but those shades of meaning are not relevant here.

When one goes to intelligence literature, one is overwhelmed with doubletalk and bureaucratese that uses a lot of words but reveals little. In every article I write I will be using a set of definitions based on what people who produce and use intelligence. Such a definition is much better because it shuns the abstract and gobbledygook and reveals what it is that Intelligence Products actually are.

Intelligence is secret state or group activity to understand or influence foreign or domestic entities.

The above definition of intelligence is a slightly modified version of the one that appeared in Michael Warner’s work in a recent article in Studies in Intelligence. “Wanted: A Definition of "Intelligence," Michael Warner, Studies in Intelligence 46, no. 3 (2002), pp. 15–22. [https://www.cia.gov/library/center-for-the-study-of-intelligence/csi-publications/csi-studies/studies/vol46no3/article02.htm ]
Warner reviews and synthesizes a number of previous attempts to define the discipline of intelligence and comes to the conclusion that

Intelligence is secret state activity to understand or influence foreign entities.

Strategic: refers to the long-term; to plans made or actions taken in an effort to help the organization fulfill its intended purpose.

Tactical: refers to an expedient for achieving a goal; a maneuver. This intelligence is often

1. Actionable (The necessary information immediately available in order to deal with the situation at hand.



2. Operational (Information required for planning and conducting campaigns and major operations to accomplish strategic objectives within operational areas.)

My definition of intelligence applies to both strategic and tactical, since both are designed to influence the understanding or behavior of an adversary. This synthesis captures most of the elements of actionable intelligence without being too restrictive or too open-ended. Most sources I have checked for definitions are contained within Definition 1 above. Note that this definition applies far wider than military situations. It applies as well to law enforcement intelligence and to preventing terrorism. It includes nonstate actors as well as nation states, and domestic groups within the United States about which intelligence activities are necessary and performed.