Introduction

The concept of the Intelligence Cycle presents something of a paradox. On the one hand, it has been central to the study and understanding of intelligence in the post-Second World War era. An intelligence training course, higher education course, or textbook that did not open with a description of the Intelligence Cycle would have seemed unthinkable until quite recently, akin to studying Politics without considering the nature and role of the state. As Robert Clark has noted: “Over the years, the intelligence cycle has become almost a theological concept: No one questions its validity.” ¹ On the other hand, the Intelligence Cycle has never been a particularly accurate guide to the way in which contemporary intelligence is organised and proceeds. Moreover, a range of developments mean that the gap between representation and reality is widening rather than narrowing. In short, its validity is now being seriously questioned. Hence, as Robert Clark has also noted, “when pressed, many intelligence officers admit that the intelligence process ‘really doesn’t work like that’”. ² The core argument of this book is that the time has come to fully recognise this paradox, adopt a more critical approach to the concept of the Intelligence Cycle, and in so doing consider whether it is now time, given developments in both the practice and the study of intelligence (in particular with regard to the latter, the emergence of Intelligence Studies as a distinct subject area ³ ), to move beyond the Intelligence Cycle.