Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 4, Number 1, Spring/Summer 2019 | Page 4

Global Security and Intelligence Studies • Volume 4, Number 1 • Spring / Summer 2019
Editorial Welcome
Welcome to the Spring/Summer 2019 issue of GSIS. This first issue of the
year features three original research articles, a research note, a unique
perspective from a field setting, commentary on a policy-relevant issue,
and two book reviews. Together, the research articles examine a breadth of
issues related to intelligence and global security. First, in Forging Consensus? Approaches
to Assessment in Intelligence Studies Programs, Jonathan C. Smith explores
how assessment structures function in Intelligence Studies degree programs in the
United States, including the extent to which evidence supports a cross-institutional
consensus on methods of assessment. Based on an analysis of eight programs,
the findings have implications for how well the current assessment structures help
to advance the discipline as a whole. Next, Aidan Parkes offers a theoretically informed
study in Power Shifts in the Saudi-Iranian Strategic Competition. In contrast
to studies that view the rivalry as an example of the broader Sunni-Shia debate,
alliances, or great power patrons, Parkes critically analyzes how tensions and
conflict between Iran and Saudi Arabia develop parallel to global shifts in power.
His article sheds light on how polarity theory can add a novel perspective to the
Saudi-Iranian contest, as opposed to viewing it as isolated and regional. Finally,
Fábio Nogueira de Miranda Filho’s article, Legitimacy of Intelligence According to
Political Thinkers, is grounded in political philosophy. Nogueira de Miranda Filho
examines the ideas of twelve prominent Western political thinkers, and then
assesses the extent to which their political philosophies support the legitimacy of
the modern intelligence service apparatus. Ranging from Machiavelli to Rousseau,
Marx, Hayek, and many others, Nogueira de Miranda Filho evaluates an impressive
breadth of political thought in offering a philosophical basis on which society
may (and in some cases, may not) grant legitimacy to the intelligence service.
In addition to these thought-provoking research articles, with this issue
comes GSIS’s inaugural research note publication by Michelle Watts and Mark Colwell.
Their note, Exploring the Digital Divide: Information Technology Governance
and Native Nations, advances a novel research program that focuses on assessing
information technology needs and current usage patterns among members of Native
Nations across the United States, as well as exploring perceptions of the digital
divide among indigenous populations. Through their research, which was carried
out over a two-year time span, the authors develop the concept of information technology
governance and discuss its policy implications. Their findings provide a first
glimpse at some of the key challenges and opportunities of information technology
on tribal lands, establishing a foundation for further research and study.
The Spring/Summer Voices from the Field section features a report by Jim
Schnell entitled Considering Context as a Factor in HUMINT Collection and Analysis:
A Voice from the Field. Schnell, who is currently conducting a Fulbright Scholar
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doi: 10.18278/gsis.4.1.1