(This article was first published in Just Security) By Mark Medish and Joel McCleary The future of electoral democracy in the United States is, without exaggeration, at risk. While a global pandemic and economic meltdown could provide a pretext for this threat, it does not come from abroad. Instead the threat comes from our own...
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Could the Death of the National Security State be the Silver Lining of COVID-19?
[This article was first published in a wise magazine called Counterpunch. Subscribe here.] Could something good come from the catastrophe of COVID-19? Might the epic insecurity of a plague teach us something about national security? Political scientist Micah Zenko calls the current pandemic “the worst intelligence failure in U.S. history.” Former CIA analyst Melvin Goodman...
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U.S. National Security Community Must Do Its Part to Fight Racial Injustice
The national security community has to address the national convulsion over police violence or else forfeit its credibility. So say two former U.S. officials in Foreign Policy (Editor’s note: paywall alert; I asked Foreign Policy to open up the piece; they have not responded.) The United States has a long history, beset by a sharp...
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Three Questions for Investigators of the COVID19 Intelligence Failure
In the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks President George Bush stoutly resisted the creation of a committee to investigate of how the hijackers were able to penetrate America’s defenses. Only the congressional intelligence committees should investigate, Bush said, and only behind closed doors. Vice President Cheney said those who charged the attacks on New York...
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The World’s Top Intelligence Agencies, Explained
The 21st century has been very good to the world’s spies. Since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001, secret intelligence agencies have increased their power and influence in countries as diverse as the United States, Russia, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Israel. What these spy services have in common is secrecy, techniques, and elaborate emblems...