Strategic Analysis in Support of International Policy Making: Case Studies in Achieving Analytical Relevance

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The book aims to improve our understanding of what it means to create high-quality analytical products by focusing on the concept of relevance for policy-makers. Despite variations in context, strategic analysts in different sectors (in both intelligence and non-intelligence government organizations, private consultancies, think tanks, and academia) face similar problems in identifying the needs of their clients and setting up organizations with the mandates, structures, and personnel necessary to address those needs. The objective is therefore to identify these common challenges, compare solutions, and share lessons learned. To do so, broader thematic reflections on strategic analysis are combined with innovative case studies of how organizations have worked to successfully produce relevant analysis. The first section explores challenges to achieving relevance at the level of the analyst, while the remainder of the book analyses cases at the level of organizations.

Reviews

This is a refreshing look at a critical issue. Instead of another book about the intelligence process, it focuses squarely on the relationship between intelligence and policy. And instead of another book on intelligence failure, the contributors explore what makes strategic analysis work. Scholars and practitioners will learn much from their answers. -- Joshua Rovner, Director, Security and Strategy Program, Southern Methodist University
This is a wonderful collection of contributions from knowledgeable and experienced professionals that advances our understandings of strategic analysis and provides best practices for improving its positive influence on international policy outcomes. Currently, more has been written about the failure of strategic analysis to influence policy outcomes, while less is known about the way in which strategic analysis can and does influence policy for the better. This book makes a significant contribution to knowledge by explaining how strategic analysis can have a positive influence on policy in a wide variety of national and organizational contexts, including but not limited to intelligence organizations. It will be of great value to all those who want to understand how strategic analysis can most effectively improve understanding and outcomes. -- Stephen Marrin, associate professor, Intelligence Analysis Program, James Madison University

Author Bio

Editor Thomas Juneau is an assistant professor at the University of Ottawas Graduate School of Public and International Affairs. From 2003 to 2014, he worked with Canadas Department of National Defence. CONTRIBUTORS Donald E. Abelson, University of Western Ontario, Canada. Robert Ayson, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Kamran Bokhari, George Washington Universitys Center for Cyber and Homeland Security. Formetly Stratfor's lead analyst on Middle Eastern and South Asian Affairs. Rex Brynen, McGill University, Canada. Mathew Burrows, director of the Atlantic Councils Strategic Foresight Initiative. Former Counselor at the National Intelligence Council (NIC). Frdric Charillon, professor, Universit dAuvergne, Sciences Po Paris, and the National School of Administration (ENA), France. Paul Dickson, Strategic Analyst with the Department of National Defence, Canada. Jeremy Ghez, Professor of Economics and International Affairs at HEC, Paris. Thomas King, former head of the Persian Gulf Division in the Near East and South Asia Analysis Office of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) at the US Department of State. Michael Roi, Strategic Analyst with the Canadian Department of National Defence. Brooke Smith-Windsor, Deputy Head and a founding member of the NATO Defence College (NDC) Research Division. Jean-Louis Tiernan, Canadian Security Intelligence Service. Gregory Treverton, Chairman of the US National Intelligence Council. Trine Villumsen Berling, Centre for Advanced Security Theory (CAST), University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Tim Walton, James Madison University, USA. He served in the US Navy, and the Central Intelligence Agency.