ABSTRACT
Since World War II, much effort has gone into defining ‘intelligence.’ This effort has even given rise to what is sometimes called intelligence theory, which can be traced to Sherman Kent’s desire to see intelligence programmatically examined, addressed, and subsumed by the mainstream social science tradition. During World War II Kent served in the Bureau of Analysis and Estimates of the US Office of Strategic Services, and later headed the Office of National Estimates of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Virtually all intelligence theory could be considered a footnote to Kent. His conviction that intelligence should be a broad-based analytical discipline is embodied in his maxim ‘intelligence is knowledge,’ which has set the precedent for most subsequent debate.
