The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence - Paperback

by Loch K. Johnson (Editor)

The second edition of The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence is a thoroughly updated state-of-the-art work on the role of secret agencies in defending the democracies and intelligence activities in authoritarian regimes. Edited by Loch Johnson, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, the handbook examines the topic in full, beginning with an examination of the major theories of intelligence. It then shifts its focus to how intelligence agencies operate, how they collect information from around the world, and the difficulties in disseminating intelligence to policymakers. It also considers the balance between secrecy and public accountability, and the ethical dilemmas that covert and counterintelligence operations routinely present to intelligence agencies. Throughout, contributors factor in broader historical and political contexts that are integral to understanding how intelligence agencies function in our information-dominated age.

Author Biography

Loch K. Johnson is Regents Professor Emeritus of International Affairs, University of Georgia. His books include National Security Intelligence (Polity, 2024); The Third Option: Covert Action and American Foreign Policy (Oxford, 2024); and Intelligence: The Secret World of Spies, with James J. Wirtz (Oxford, 2023). He assisted the chairmen of the Church Committee on Intelligence and the Aspin-Brown Commission on Intelligence. In 2012, the Southeast Conference selected him as its inaugural "Professor of the Year." At the University of Georgia, he led the founding of the School of Public and International Affairs and is a recipient of its Presidential Medal.