Promoting and evaluating intelligence assessment quality: examining the problem through an accountability lens
Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: Intelligence studies scholars have discussed multiple criteria for promoting and evaluating intelligence assessment quality, including the degree to which intelligence organizations can tamp down on strategic surprises, ratchet up estimative accuracy, please decision-makers, and follow tradecraft guidelines. These criteria are examined through the lens of accountability pressures and strategies for dealing with such pressures. The criteria discussed are described in terms of a key distinction between process-based and outcome-based accountability strategies. The essay concludes with a meliorist proposal that, drawing on Sherman Kent’s insights, reframes the aim of intelligence assessment as an effort to elevate policy discussions through well-reasoned analyses.
Source: Intelligence & National Security
Author: David R. Mandel
Language: English
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Award: G7499066075
OpenAlex ID: W7140910410