ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the multidisciplinary nature of warning. It addresses the warning process in terms of its concepts, systems, and analytical techniques. Indications and warning (I&W), or, simply warning intelligence, is an interdisciplinary field comprised of several types of intelligence and academic disciplines. In the intelligence arena, I&W includes current, estimative, scientific and technological, and other types of intelligence. The management responsibility for the System rests with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and the Director, DIA is the system's supervisor. Warning intelligence is different from estimative intelligence in that the latter is designed for long-term assessments of foreign activities that are of interest to US policymakers. The fundamental difference between the warning analyst and others in intelligence is the requirement to discern the intentions of others, whether the others are presidents, prime ministers, terrorists, or guerrilla leaders. Naturally, the flow of sufficient information is necessary for the analyst to formulate a warning.
