ABSTRACT
Some time before the end of the Second World War the JIC had begun to look towards the future, attempting to gauge how to structure the intelligence apparatus of the United Kingdom so as to be ready to meet any potential threat. The JIC was not the only part of the Whitehall machinery to do so: in 1942 the military, too, began to look towards the post-war world, as did the FO shortly afterwards. This crystal gazing was hugely important for, as the JIC admitted, the pre-war defi ciencies in intelligence coverage had been detrimental to the war effort and it was crucial to know where to focus energy and attention in the future (see chapter 6). This proved to be a contentious debate, with the FO and the COS at loggerheads. The JIC, so often a harmonious forum, became the battleground in which the future course of British policy would be played out.
