PO382 Vigilant State The Politics of Intelligence

This essay examines the usefulness of the ‘ticking bomb scenario’ (henceforth TBS) in determining whether torture should be used for intelligence purposes. It draws on epistemological and strategic analyses, as well as recent intelligence history, to argue that using the TBS to debate torture is not only futile, but actively counterproductive, and of little relevance to the moral, consequential or legal debates on torture. Part One situates torture within the liberal discourse and introduces...

Revision notes on Producer-Consumer Linkage and Politicisation in Vigilant State. Topics covered: - Democracy and autocracy - Deception - Knowledge and intelligence - Reflexive analysis - Human Agency - Idealism vs realism - Summaries of various readings (including Betts, Gardiner, Jervis, Pillar, Marrin, Hastedt, Rovner, Dahl, Woodard, Davis)

Revision notes on Civil Liberties in Vigilant State. Topics covered: - Privacy - Theorising state surveillance - Surveillance vs state secrecy - Surveillance in practice - Detention and repression - Civil liberties

Revision notes on Counter-Terrorism in Vigilant State. Topics covered: - Lee Rigby Report - Third/fourth waves of terrorism - Complex environments - UK responses - Operational problems of suppression - Operational problems of concession

Revision notes on Covert Action for Vigilant State. Topics covered: - Why study covert action? - Definitions - Risks, drawbacks and dilemmas - Morality - Measurement - Culture and Propaganda - CIA and covert action - A range of literature summaries (including Saunders, Koch, Lucas, Wilford, Laville, Aldrich, Paget)

Revision notes on Accountability and Oversight for Vigilant State. Topics covered: - Accountability - Intelligence and Security Committee - Globalisation - Oversight - International Oversight