Understanding the change in intelligence organizations: an institutional framework

Date
2020
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of Delaware
Abstract
The central goal of this dissertation is to explain why and how intelligence organizations change. The transformation of intelligence organizations often examined under organizational studies, bureaucracy studies, and intelligence studies and has never been a primary focus of research. This dissertation brings a new and overarching perspective to explain the transformation of intelligence organizations. To be more specific, it argues that three factors trigger the change in intelligence organizations: cataclysmic events, external threats, and domestic threats. Further, this dissertation also argues that regime type determines how intelligence organizations change. ☐ In order to explore the transformation of intelligence organizations within different regimes, I study twelve events under three cases: 9/11, 15th July 2016 Coup Attempt and the end of the Cold War as cataclysmic events; Russian aggression after 2010, Syrian Civil War, and Ukraine Conflict after 2010, and the emergence of ISIS as external threats; and domestic terrorism in the US in the 1990s, PKK, and Chechen terrorism in the 1990s as domestic threats. ☐ For each case, I study the background of events, official intelligence documents, statements of senior policymakers and intelligence officials, and available data. Also, I conduct interviews with nine national security experts. The findings confirm the predictions of the institutional framework presented in this dissertation. The analysis demonstrated that cataclysmic events led to a major transformation in the intelligence community regardless of regime type. However, this transformation occurred 1) slower in the US, 2) quicker in Russia, and 3) in a hybrid way in Turkey. Furthermore, even though traditional external threats led to regular change regardless of regime type, non-state external threats led to 4) a slow transformative change in the US, 5) a quick regular change in Russia, and 6) a hybrid change in Turkey. Last, domestic threats led to 7) slow regular change in the US, 8) a quick transformative change in Russia, and 9) a hybrid change in Turkey.
Description
Keywords
CIA, FBI, Intelligence agency, KGB, National Security, Turkey
Citation