The Role of Strategic Intelligence in the Post-Everything Age

Abstract

Classical intelligence has little sense outside the normal, modern world where it was born and developed. Intelligence, in general, and strategic intelligence, in particular, are having difficulties to adapt to a new world where objectives are different and the rules of the game, if they still exist, are continuously changing. Faced with the growing competition from alternative providers of strategic insight, intelligence is trying to adapt to the changing requirements of new times. Intelligence professionals may sometimes be disappointed with their limited influence on real decision-making, but nevertheless they have succeeded in retaining a remarkable ability to make themselves useful. Typically, top-level decision-makers still trust intelligence with some essential functions at the strategic level. Interestingly enough, they are not always those functions intelligence professionals would like to carry out.