2000 – Page 29 – Public Intelligence Blog

2000/04/072009/11/08

Review: The U.S. Intelligence Community–An Annotated Bibliography (Garland Reference Library of the Humanities)

4 Star, Intelligence (Government/Secret)

Essential reference work,

April 7, 2000

Mark Lowenthal

Mark is arguably America's foremost intelligence historian, and especially strong on analysis and oversight. The seventy-page bibliography he has put together is useful. There are other much longer annotated bibliographies, but this one reflects value in its selection and conciseness.

2000/04/072009/11/08

Review: Silent Warfare–Understanding the World of Intelligence (Intelligence and National Security Library)

Intelligence (Government/Secret), War & Face of Battle

Core reading,

April 7, 2000

Abram N. Shulsky

I rather like this book, and believe it continues to have value as a primer on intelligence for both students and entry-level employees. Most interesting is the distinction that Shulsky, himself a former defense analyst, professional staffer on the Hill, and sometime Pentagon policy wonk, makes between the “Traditional” view of intelligence as “silent warfare”, and the “American” view of intelligence as “strategic analysis.”

2000/04/072009/11/08

Review: CYBERPUNK–Outlaws and Hackers on the Computer Frontier, Revised

3 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War

First and Interesting but Flawed,

April 7, 2000

Katie Hafner

Three case studies are provided, including one dealing with Robert Morris, son of a distinguished NSA scientist and the person who brought America to a standstill with an epidemic electronic virus. By two distinguished journalists who knew little about hackers but could recognize a great story when they saw one, this is one of the more important early books that erroneously labeled hackers as criminals and electronic criminals as hackers.

2000/04/072009/11/08

Review: Accidental Empires–How the Boys of Silicon Valley Make Their Millions, Battle Foreign Competition, and Still Can’t Get a Date

4 Star, Capitalism (Good & Bad), Change & Innovation, Culture, Research, Economics, Information Society, Information Technology

Big Companies Can Be Really Stupid–Useful Review,

April 7, 2000

Robert X. Cringely

A gift from one of the folks he writes about, this is one of the earliest books about Silicon Valley, and is both enjoyable and useful because of its early focus on the mistakes made by IBM, Xerox Park, 3Com, and other “CIA-like” giants, its discussion of the hit and miss and perserverence nature of the early start-ups, and some really big things to avoid like letting venture capitalists or the marketing staff tell you what to offer the public.

2000/03/072009/11/08

Review: The Devil’s Garden

5 Star, Corruption, Executive (Partisan Failure, Reform), Threats (Emerging & Perennial), War & Face of Battle

Reality Hurts–Joint Chiefs Don't Want to Face It,

March 7, 2000

Ralph Peters

Ralph Peters, whom I know professionally, is a modern-day Lawrence of Arabia who has actually walked hundreds of miles through the worst of terrains, and deeply understands–at both a Ph.D. and gutter level, the reality of real war. The Joint Chiefs don't want to face this reality because it bears no resemblance to their nice clean air-conditioned CNN version of war. Devil's Garden is the real thing, and it is also a great novel.

2000/03/072009/11/08

Review: Fighting for the Future–Will America Triumph?

5 Star, Asymmetric, Cyber, Hacking, Odd War, Empire, Sorrows, Hubris, Blowback, Force Structure (Military), Insurgency & Revolution, Military & Pentagon Power

Speaking Truth to Power,

March 7, 2000

Ralph Peters

Ralph Peters draws on over 30 years of experience and at least ten years of published thinking to bring us this capstone book. It is, with Brigadier Simmon's book on RACE TO THE SWIFT, and one or two others (perhaps MajGen Scales book on The Limits of Firepower–can't hit what intel can't find, and anything by Martin Van Crevald), one of the top ten books in military thinking today, and absolutely essential for any officer or any political appointee responsive for national security, to digest and redigest. Ralph speaks truth to power, but power doesn't want to listen. Anyone who has a son or daughter eligible for national service should be reading this book, because the reality is that we are perpetuating a military machine totally unsuited for the conflicts of today and tomorrow, and it is our children who will die because of our silence at voters today.

2000/03/012009/09/16

2000 The Year in Computing Open Source Solutions

About the Idea, Articles & Chapters

The modern Open Source Intelligence (OSINT) revolution began in 1988, and it is known that it takes 25 years to move great ideas toward fruition. Early adopters appeared in 1994-1996, and then a smal second roiund in 2000-2004, after which OSINT was consumed by the bureaucracy (in the USA–in 89 other countries it is doing better). As we enter the final phrase, the operative concept is that governments are the beneficiaries, not the benefcators, of OSINT, and it must therefore be firmly rooted in Public Intelligence as a manifestation of Collective Intelligence, not in the federal budget. Elsewhere we have lectured about “The Future of Intelligence: Not Federal, Not Secret, Not Expensive.” That stands.