The Anthropology of Intelligence: Understanding the Culture of the Intelligence Community.

Discussions of cultural problems raised in 9/11 report, WMD commission and frequent editorial comments all stress the problems of culture within the Intelligence Community. A few comments selected from recent commentary:? Information sharing is blocked by culture. ? The culture of the Directorate of Operations impedes cooperation with law enforcement organization.? There is a general conflict between civilian and military cultures within the Intelligence Community. ? The Director of the Intelligence Community lacks the authority to direct the community.Sociology and organizational theory dominate the discussion of Intelligence Community reform but the tools of anthropology ? especially those from political and cultural anthropology ? may help us see more clearly the problems that impede effective integration of Community. Among the tools we might take from our anthropologist tool kit are linguistic analysis, organization and concepts of primordial identity, study of status, authority and hierarchy, boundary maintenance and exclusivity of belonging, group responsiveness to external changes, the role of shamans and soothsayers, etc. ..PAT.-Unpublished Manuscript [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]