The intelligence intellectuals : social scientists and the making of the CIA / Peter C. Grace.
| Author/creator | Grace, Peter C. author. |
| Format | Book |
| Publication | Washington, DC : Geogetown University Press, [2026] |
| Copyright Date | ©2026 |
| Description | xviii, 288 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm. |
| Subjects |
| Series | Georgetown studies in intelligence history Georgetown studies in intelligence history. |
| Contents | Introduction : clear and prescient danger -- The promise of social science before 1945 -- A struggle for existence, 1946-50 -- The failure of the Office of Reports and Estimates, 1947-50 --The intel intellectual as administrator and the reforms of 1950-53 -- The intel intellectuals and the emergence of a strategic intelligence discipline -- The national intelligence estimates of Soviet strategic intentions and capablities -- Soviet economic capabilities and the inventory of ignorance -- The Princeton consultants -- Kent's "theory of the fuck up of the imponderables" -- Conclusion : the intel intellectuals as agents of change. |
| Abstract | "The Intelligence Intellectuals analyzes the impact of the recruitment of social scientists into the CIA to fix intelligence analysis in the early Cold War. Peter Grace analyzes the significance of how these scholars helped create modern intelligence analysis by bringing advanced analytic methods to a job that had previously operated on an ad hoc basis. This was part of a broader societal trend where social science methods were being incorporated into business management and other sectors of government. These professors from history, political science, and economics departments at top research universities were recruited to the CIA after a series of intelligence failures, especially the North Korean invasion of South Korea in 1950. The new director of Central Intelligence, Walter Bedell Smith, had a mandate to reform the agency. Professors such as William Langer of Harvard, Sherman Kent of Yale, and Max Millikan of MIT arrived and brought their associates and recent Ph.D graduates. Little attention has been given to this fascinating history of the professionalization of intelligence analysis and how these pioneers shaped the Cold War and beyond"-- Provided by publisher. |
| Bibliography note | Includes bibliographical references (pages 267-278) and index. |
| Issued in other form | Online version http://id.loc.gov/entities/relationships/onlineversion Grace, Peter C. Intelligence intellectuals Washington, DC : Georgetown University Press, 2026 9781647126452 |
| LCCN | 2025013763 |
| ISBN | 9781647126438 (hardback) |
| ISBN | 1647126436 (hardback) |
| ISBN | 9781647126445 (paperback) |
| ISBN | 1647126444 (paperback) |
| ISBN | (ebook) |