Assignment task:
1. According to Roger Z. George and James J. Wirtz what effects can ethnocentrism and mirror-imaging have on intelligence analysis? What reforms has the IC adopted to counter these cognitive and organizational biases?
2. How can cultural awareness help avoid intelligence failures?
3. Have your own experiences within the IC (if any) validated these observations?
Readings:
Routledge Handbook of Strategic Culture, Roger Z. George and James J. Wirtz, "Strategic Culture and the US Intelligence Community," Chapter 31, pp. 444-458.
Matthew M. Aid, "Sins of Omission and Commission: Strategic Cultural Factors and US Intelligence Failures During the Cold War," Intelligence and National Security, Vol. 26, No. 4 (August 2011): 478-494.
Richard J. Aldrich and John Kasuku, "Escaping from American Intelligence: Culture, Ethnocentrism, and the Anglosphere," International Affairs, 88: 5 (2012): 1009-1028.