Report on COIN intelligence collection

A few months ago the Defense Science Board Task Force on Defense Intelligence released a report on Counterinsurgency (COIN) Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) Operations (pdf). Among its recommandations is that:

the government generally should increase investment in social science disciplines (anthropology, ethnography, human geography, sociology, social-psychology, political science, and economics) to inform a whole-of-government approach to understanding local cultures and customs and to support future COIN campaigns.

and the report notes that:

the United States government is not investing adequately in the development of social and behavioral information that is critically important for COIN.

Great news for someone hopeful to have a degree in political science in the near future! Read the rest of this entry »