Setauket to Abbottabad: The Value of Film and Television in Teaching Human Intelligence
Espionage is often referred to as the world’s second oldest profession, and human intelligence is the oldest collection discipline. When many people think of espionage the images that often come to mind are fictional characters such as Jason Bourne or James Bond. Human intelligence encompasses much...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Henley-Putnam University
2015-09-01
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| Series: | Journal of Strategic Security |
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| Online Access: | http://scholarcommons.usf.edu/jss/vol8/iss3/5/ |
| Summary: | Espionage is often referred to as the world’s second oldest profession, and human intelligence is the oldest collection discipline. When many people think of espionage the images that often come to mind are fictional characters such as Jason Bourne or James Bond. Human intelligence encompasses much more than “secret agents” using their “toys” to collect top-secret information. Teaching human intelligence within an academic setting can be difficult because of the clandestine nature of tradecraft and sources of intelligence. Ironically, it is television and film that brought us Bourne and Bond that can also aid in the teaching of the variety of issues and concepts important to the study of human intelligence. This paper will examine how television and movies inspired by actual events are used as case studies to teach human intelligence in an academic setting. Cases are examined through the lenses of a variety of issues and concepts related to human intelligence, including source acquisition and development, sleepers, interrogation, denial and deception, and the legal and ethical issues impacting collection efforts. The Assets, The Americans, Turn, and Zero Dark Thirty are some of the titles that are utilized in this teaching approach and examples of how these specific titles are used are provided. |
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| ISSN: | 1944-0464 1944-0472 |