Knowledge Tree
United States Intelligence Community
Also known as: IC, American intelligence community
Facts (43)
Sources
United States Foreign Intelligence Relationships everycrsreport.com May 15, 2019 37 facts
claimThe United States Intelligence Community policy is to refrain from exchanging intelligence with foreign regimes that abuse human rights, and the CIA has threatened to or actually cut off relations with liaison partners known to practice such abuses.
claimThe United States Congress maintains a vested interest in understanding the nature and scope of the United States Intelligence Community's relations with foreign intelligence services and has expressed both confidence in the value of these relationships and reservations regarding them.
claimThe United States Congress has expressed criticism regarding instances where the United States Intelligence Community (IC) became overly dependent on foreign intelligence partners, potentially at the expense of investing in its own intelligence capabilities.
claimThe Director of National Intelligence (DNI) has the statutory authority to oversee the coordination between elements of the United States Intelligence Community and the intelligence or security services of foreign governments or international organizations on matters involving national security or clandestine intelligence.
claimThe United States Congress has raised concerns regarding the United States Intelligence Community's ability to independently assess the credibility of foreign intelligence sources.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community maintains intelligence relationships with foreign partners because it remains confident that the benefits of these relationships outweigh the risks, despite the potential for public intelligence failures.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community (IC) has observed that nontraditional partners often prioritize their own interests and internal dynamics, even when the United States provides heavy inducements.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community maintains less well-known liaison relationships with United States adversaries over specific issues of mutual concern and with non-state foreign intelligence organizations such as Kurdish groups.
claimThe persistent cultivation of intelligence relations with foreign partners by the United States Intelligence Community suggests that the agency remains confident that the benefits of these relationships outweigh the risks.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community has relied on close relations with foreign partners since its inception.
procedureRelationships between the United States Intelligence Community and foreign intelligence services are typically formalized through a memorandum of understanding (MOU) or other written agreement.
claimUnited States intelligence relationships with foreign counterparts are generally strategic and address national security priorities including national defense, emerging threats, counterterrorism, counter-proliferation, treaty compliance, cybersecurity, economic and financial security, counter-narcotics, and piracy.
quoteBritish intelligence services provided influential advice and served as an important exemplar during the formative years of the American intelligence community.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community maintains multilateral intelligence relationships with NATO member states, Five Eyes partners (United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand), and intelligence organizations supporting coalition partners in operational theaters such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
claimCongress intervened to rebalance national intelligence collection with collection from foreign partners after the United States Intelligence Community became heavily dependent on foreign intelligence in the 1970s and 1990s.
claimThe United States intelligence community utilized a deliberate, resource-driven strategy of leveraging foreign partnerships during the 1990s.
claimThe risks to the United States Intelligence Community of cooperating with a foreign intelligence service are more easily understood because intelligence failures involving a foreign partner sometimes become public.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community (IC) has historically functioned as a diplomatic back channel to foreign governments, particularly in nations where the United States lacks formal diplomatic relations, to communicate information between heads of state.
claimRisks associated with United States intelligence relations with foreign counterparts include compromise due to poor security, espionage, geopolitical turmoil, manipulation to influence policy, incomplete vetting of foreign sources, over-reliance on a foreign partner's intelligence capabilities, and concern over a partner's potentially illegal or unethical tradecraft.
claimThe primary goals of the United States Intelligence Community in establishing foreign intelligence relationships are to enhance national intelligence resources and capabilities, and to further U.S. national security by improving understanding of the threat environment to enable informed strategic planning, policy decisions, and military operations.
claimThe United States Congress has expressed concerns regarding foreign intelligence relationships, specifically regarding the Intelligence Community's potential over-dependence on foreign partners at the expense of internal investment, the ability to independently assess the credibility of foreign sources, and the vulnerability of foreign partners' telecommunications infrastructure to hostile compromise.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community (IC) reduced national intelligence collection resources during the 1970s and the 1990s, leading to a heavy reliance on intelligence obtained from foreign partners.
claimCongress criticized the United States Intelligence Community for deficiencies in its ability to independently assess the credibility of foreign intelligence sources, specifically citing a source who fabricated reporting on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction.
claimTies between the United States Intelligence Community and its closest allies are often one component of a broader security cooperation arrangement.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community maintains intelligence relationships with a variety of partners, including long-term ties with close allies, liaison relationships with U.S. adversaries regarding specific issues of mutual concern, and relations with non-state foreign intelligence organizations such as Kurdish groups.
claimIntelligence liaison between the United States Intelligence Community and foreign intelligence services involves the exchange of information, raw data, or finished intelligence to provide tactical, operational, or strategic insight.
claimBenefits of United States intelligence relations with foreign counterparts include indications and warning of an attack, expanded geographic coverage, corroboration of national sources, accelerated access to a contingency area, and a diplomatic backchannel.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community aims to enhance national intelligence resources and capabilities and further United States national security by understanding the threat environment to enable informed strategic planning, better policy decisions, and successful military operations.
claimThe U.S. Intelligence Community assumes that maintaining intelligence partnerships enhances national security by providing benefits such as access to inaccessible targets, corroboration of sources, cultural expertise, joint assessments, warning of attacks, basing rights, or joint covert operations.
claimIn regions where the United States Intelligence Community has few national intelligence assets, cooperative relations with regional foreign intelligence services increase U.S. intelligence coverage by utilizing the partner's source network and their linguistic, political, and cultural expertise.
claimU.S. foreign intelligence relations are defined as a component of U.S. international relations involving cooperation between a U.S. intelligence service and a foreign state or non-state intelligence service over an area of mutual interest.
claimThe Director of National Intelligence (DNI) provides policy, criteria, and oversight for all United States Intelligence Community element relationships with foreign intelligence services, though individual IC elements possess the statutory authority to enter into agreements with foreign counterparts.
claimThe United States intelligence community engages in intelligence liaison with traditional adversaries and non-state actors, such as Kurdish organizations, on areas of mutual interest.
claimForms of cooperation between the United States Intelligence Community and foreign intelligence services include basing rights to enhance U.S. collection coverage, joint operations from foreign sovereign territory, and training to improve the capacity and professionalism of foreign intelligence services.
claimThe United States Intelligence Community has utilized foreign intelligence partnerships to commit ethical abuses, including the operation of overseas black sites.
claimMost U.S. intelligence sharing occurs with allied countries or U.S.-affiliated non-state actors, based on relationships shaped by decades of shared experience in war and peace.
accountThe United States Intelligence Community has relied on close relations with foreign partners since its inception.
History of the Central Intelligence Agency - Wikipedia en.wikipedia.org 3 facts
claimThe Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) formerly oversaw the entire United States Intelligence Community, served as the President's principal intelligence advisor, and headed the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).
referenceJeffrey T. Richelson's book 'The US intelligence community' (2018) provides an overview of the United States intelligence community.
claimThe Director of National Intelligence (DNI) manages the United States Intelligence Community and the intelligence cycle, including the preparation of estimates reflecting the consolidated opinion of the 16 intelligence agencies and the preparation of briefings for the President.
The Role of Private Corporations in the Intelligence Community belfercenter.org 2 facts
The Evolution of the U.S. Intelligence Community-An Historical ... govinfo.gov 1 fact
claimCongressional committees considered bills in 1978 that were intended to dramatically overhaul the United States Intelligence Community.