Global Security and Intelligence Studies Volume 5, Number 1, Spring / Summer 2020 | Page 116
Global Security and Intelligence Studies
across domains—cultural, social, business,
politics, economics, engineering,
medicine, and the IC. It has also taken
us to a dangerous threshold, where
fake news and the weaponization of
information has a growing foothold.
Critical thinking will be the foundation
of a human’s ability to thrive and
survive. For employers in the IC, being
able to evaluate a potential employee’s
cognitive ability will be acute, because
the IC’s most valuable asset is still its
analysts, whose skills and values, it can
be argued, might be far greater than
any other work of technology and relevant
fields combined. The security
and defense of the United States, the
decisions of policymakers, and our relationship
with other countries are all
dependent on their assessments and
evaluations. An IA’s skill base must be
excellent, critical thinking must continue
to be addressed, and some type
of baseline testing of potential IAs may
be needed. At the very least, testing
opens the door for dialogue of skill
base and the ways to improve and address
critical thinking.
Margaret S. Marangione is a senior researcher for defense contractor,
Syntelligent Analytic Solutions. She started her career as an
Intelligent Analyst for the CIA and worked as a Security Analyst for
Grumman-Northrop. She is a former researcher for the Humanitarian
Mine Action Center working directly with the State Department,
Department of Defense, United Nations and the Geneva Center. She
is the founding editor of the Journal of Mine Action and her intelligence–related
articles have appeared in the International Journal
of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, the Global Intelligence Studies
Journal and Signal Magazine. The funding for this article was supported
by Syntelligent Analytic Solutions. The author can be reached
at [email protected]
References
ACT. 2005. “Crises at the Core: Preparing Students for College and Work.” http://
www.csun.edu/~rinstitute/Content/policy/Crisis%20at%20the%20Core.pdf.
Adler, Mortimer. 1972. How To Read A Book. Edited by Charles Van Doren. New
York: Simon and Schuster.
Anderson, Janna, and Leann Raine. 2017. “The Future of Truth and Misinformation
Online.” Pew Research Center Information and Technology. Retrieved from
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2017/10/19/the-future-of-truth-and-mis
information-online/
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