Description
Book SynopsisTrade ReviewThis lengthy work gives readers a great deal to ponder, particularly Sims's illustration of the critical roles that intelligence gathering and analysis play in determining the course of conflict, invisible though they often are. * Choice *
In a real tour de force, Jennifer Sims develops and deploys a broadened concept of intelligence to show how it can lead to a decision advantage that affects the course of history. The cases studied are unusual and extraordinarily well done. This important book is a pleasure to read and deserves a wide audience." -Robert Jervis, author of Why Intelligence Fails
Jennifer Sims takes the reader on a fascinating tour of intelligence failures and successes from the Spanish Armada to today's post-911 world. Her rigorous analysis reminds us that intelligence in war does not need to be perfect; it just needs to be better than the intelligence on the enemy's side." -Scott D. Sagan, Caroline S.G. Munro Professor of Political Science, Stanford University
The concept 'decision advantage' is central to the mission of U.S. intelligence * providing policy makers with intelligence to give them an information advantage over other international actors. Indeed, the term 'decision advantage' figures prominently in a display in the offices of the Director of National Intelligence. Jennifer Sims, a long time intelligence veteran, is properly credited with originating the concept and its definition. She has now taken this concept and examined how it worked across a range of historic policy dilemmas, from the threat posed to England by the Spanish Armada to the current issue of cyberspace. Dr. Sims has produced a thoughtful and provocative study that bridges intelligence theory and intelligence history." -Mark M. Lowenthal, Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis & Production (2002-05), and author of Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy *
Sims has produced a thought-provoking book that seeks to bridge intelligence theory and history. The case-studies are engaging and full of detail on the influence of intelligence on military and diplomatic competition, which will be of interest to a broad audience...Sims's book should be read widely. * Dan Lomas, International Affairs *
Jennifer E. Sims's Decision Advantage is an examination of how intelligence has influenced select decision-makers, through three broad periods in history, culminating in a proposed theory of intelligence in international politics...as a historical study of intelligence, the book excels. * Robin Kemp, H-Net *
In Decision Advantage, Jennifer E. Sims seeks to correct both popular misconceptions of how espionage operates and rebut the views of those who dismiss its importance in international politics. * Mitchell B. Reiss, Intelligence, Strategy and Governance in the Twenty-first Century *
Table of Contents1. Intelligence and Decision Advantage in International Politics 2. The Spanish Armada 3. Gaining Decision: Advantage in the Anglo-Spanish War 4. Intelligence Lessons from The Spanish Armada 5. Battlefield Intelligence: The Battles of First Manassas and Chancellorsville During the US Civil War 6. Gaining Advantage: First Manassas and Chancellorsville 7. Intelligence Lessons from Civil War Battlefields 8. Intelligence for the Chase: Races, Chases, and Interdictions in Complex Contingencies 9. Intelligence Support to Diplomacy 10. Knowledge and Diplomacy in the Era of Total War 11. Gaining Diplomatic Advantages before WWI 12. Intelligence and Decision in 1938 13. A Theory of Intelligence in International Politics 14. 21st Century Intelligence: Distributed Power and Cyberwar Appendix 1: Report By Nuño Da Silva, Portuguese Pilot Captured by Francis Drake, 19.1.1578 Appendix 2: A General Theory of Intelligence Index
