Mr. Robert Young Pelton is perhaps the greatest journalist-adverturer on the planet. This is a man that gets kidnapped by accident, is recognized by the leader of the kidnappers, and is promptly released with apologies and an honor guard. His book World’s Most Dangerous Places and his TV series Come Back Alive are among the most extraordinary “ground truth” offerings available to the public and admired by the spies. In his every waking moment, in his every action, in his every report, he embodies the true spirit of Open Source Intelligence (OSINT).
This extraordinary person may well be the prototype for engaged citizen investigative journalism. Below is the summary of his presence at OSS '03, and links to his two most important websites. The photo above links to his Wikipedia page.
Pelton at OSS '03Come Back Alive Web Site including DangerpediaAmazon Page
Included as a Reference in PEACEKEEPING INTELLIGENCE: Emerging Concepts for the Future, this is a stand-alone piece that captures key lessons learned across both the four levels of analysis and the varied elements of the traditional intelligence cycle, elements that are NOT secret.
The outline below does not do justice the rich spontaneous presentation that Col Dr. Max Manwaring of the Strategic Studies Institute shared with OSS '02.
Dr. Manwaring may well be America's top authority on both “uncomfortable small wars” and on “gangs against governments.”
He is the originator of the six generations of warfare (the US still fights 4th generation warfare at best) and inspired the definition by Robert Steele of the seventh generation, Information Peacekeeping at “total war” using information and intelligence as the sole munition.
Click on the photograph to access his rich biography and many publications, most free online. Click below to read the outline.
Professor Monty Marshall came to our attention when his book on the Third World War impressed us so deeply. Our review of 15 December 2001 is entitled:
Deeply Important to Our Future, Scholarly, Practical, Urgent
Click on the book cover to reach the Amazon page and also read our review. we continue to be concerned by the chasm between people like Professor Marshall with deep knowledge, and policy makers who plan, program, and budget without any understanding as to true costs and needed investments.
Below is his contribution to oSS '02. Much more remains to be done with this important body of work.
The GlobalFuturesPartnership(GFP) is a strategic “think and do tank” that undertakes unclassified global outreach for CIA and other Intelligence Community elements on the most important issues facing the intelligence community today and in coming years. It conceptualizes and implements interdisciplinary and multi-organizational projects on key intelligence issues with leading thinkers from academia, business, strategy, and intelligence consultants.
Below is the citation for the award given to the visionary, founder, and core catalyst within the GFP, followed by two CIA seals: the one on the left leads to the pro forma page on GFP, sadly not offering access to its unclassified and often brilliant productions over the past several years, and the one on the left offers a link to a presentation on “Meeting 21st Century Transnational Challenges: Building a Global Intelligence Paradigm” by Roger George, possibly the most tangible evidence of GFP's influence on CIA's leadership.
OSS '02: 21st Century Emerging Leadership Award. Global Futures Partnership, Central Intelligence Agency. Under the leadership of Carol Dumaine with her extraordinary vision, the Global Futures Partnership has created strategic learning forums bringing the rich perspectives of the outside world into the classified environment in a manner never before attempted. This official but revolutionary endeavor nurtures an outside-in channel for integrating a diversity of perspectives. It is a vanguard toward a future in which the lines between national and global intelligence, and between governmental and nongovernmental intelligence, are blurred into extinction.
Global Futures PartnershipMeeting 21st Century Transnational Challenges: Building a Global Intelligence Paradigm
The GFP is not to be confused with the Open Source Center (OSC). The first is a visionary outreach elements that seeks to share information and achieve multi-national sense-making, in one instance working with up to 35 countries. The OSC is a bureaucratic unit that classifies everything it creates and refuses to engage with any countries other than the standard English-speaking allies and a couple of others totalling eleven including the USA, Canada, the UK, Australia, you get the idea….
The CIA leadership never properly supported the GFP. Its vision
Col Michael J. Dziedzic is one of those very rare officers of such intelligence and integrity that he was able to run against the grain for years, focusing on the vital importance of civil-military operations other than war (OOTW) that were “buried” by a Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff who said (we are not making this up), “Real men don't do OOTW.” Of course the Defense Science Board Report on Transitions to and From Hostilities (December 2004) and the current Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, say otherwise. Principle co-author with Ambassador Bob Oakley of Policing the New World Disorder, still the seminal work in the field, this is an officer, along with Colonel Ferd Irizzary, whom we hope to see earn multiple promotions as we all realize that a multinational multifunctional Earth Rescue Network is a non-negotiable first step to “getting a grip.” We hold this officer in the very highest esteem.
