Download TRANSCRIPTION BULINGE, SEQUENCE a Hello everybody. Today

TRANSCRIPTION BULINGE, SEQUENCE a
Hello everybody. Today we are going to look at “Intelligence and Strategy”.
What role can intelligence play, and in what form? How does an intelligence
service fit into the world of media, crowded with experts of every
denomination? How can we define intelligence as a useful source of
knowledge, when the quantity of available information has expanded beyond
measure, when individual capacities have developed, and when specialised
departments are no long the only ones to have facilities for data
processing and analysis?
At the same time, how should political leaders view the “knowledgeanticipation” function? To what extent, and how, should they in future take
intelligence into account, and be accountable for having made proper use of
it?
First we must define what we mean by strategic intelligence. The definition
has changed over time. At the end of the 19th century “intelligence”
referred to information gathered about the enemy. It concerned
topographical, geographical, architectural (like fortifications),
technological (like armaments) information about the adversary, which was
named, Germany.
Such a conception of intelligence meant that the quest for information
would be based on 1) reconnaissance and 2) espionage. All the data
converged on a central intelligence department, which prepared syntheses,
mainly for the military Chiefs of Staff. This was the model that
impregnated western culture until the end of the 20th century.
Historically, intelligence can be defined as a process consisting in
transforming information into operational knowledge of use to political and
military deciders. The process is illustrated by the intelligence cycle in
which, with interactive logic, the leader tells the intelligence service
what he wants, and the service’s mission is to give it to him. The cycle
covers a whole range of activities, from the expression of the need to the
exploitation of the information gathered. As the next diagram shows, this
is an iterative process supposed to continue until the decider is
satisfied. At the heart of the arrangement, the intelligence unit activates
the various protagonists. It gives orientations, guides research, manages
the exploitation of the data and sends the intelligence to the decider. The
exploitation process is detailed in the next diagram: the data is collected
and evaluated, then processed, in other words indexed, formatted and
stored. At that stage it is information, which will be analysed and
interpreted, before being synthesised. This is a very mechanistic,
simplified representation of a process that is in reality more complex. All
the same, it conveys a good idea of what we mean by intelligence, i.e. not
mere information, but the result of its exploitation for a specific
purpose.
Let us now turn to the sources of strategic intelligence. There are
multiple sources, and the quality of the intelligence produced will depend
on how well they are managed. This is known as the combination of sensors.
There are technical sources, human sources, and so-called open
intelligence. The technical sources correspond to data sensors which are
either directly observable, like with observation satellites, or emitted by
communication systems, like radio frequency and digital signals.
There are different kinds of technical sources. Electronic signals
intelligence, or ELINT, can intercept radiotelephone communications and
signals emitted by weapon systems, data transmitters, etc. Surveillance of
communication networks is of both tactical and strategic importance. It
mobilises a vast array of sensors: fixed and mobile land stations, ships,
specialised aircraft, chartered platforms (for instance surface vessels),
submarines, aircraft, and military satellites and drones.
Imagery Intelligence, IMINT, includes all air and space observation by
sensors operating in the full light spectrum (infrared, visible and radar).
IMINT can visualise on request images of a tactical or strategic nature, in
the combat zone, or the development of infrastructure, or natural
resources.
IT Intelligence (Renseignement d’origine informatique, R.O.I.) consists in
penetrating IT networks in order to collect information stored in the
adversary’s servers, and in intercepting digital communication flows. This
is by definition illegal, and therefore is dealt with by security agencies,
such as the DGSE and DGSI.
Finally, there is human intelligence, information collected by human
beings, official or clandestine. There are dedicated intelligence agents:
secret agents, military personnel specialised in reconnaissance, observers,
military attachés, even some diplomats.
There are also occasional agents, journalists, representatives of NGOs,
dissidents, and in conflict situations, partisans, prisoners, escapees and
deserters. DGSE, for instance, conducts clandestine secret data collection
operations. This is called operational intelligence; special teams plant
microphones in an office or an apartment, break into a hotel bedroom and
inspect a portable computer, open a safe or explore the contents of a
diplomatic bag.
Lastly, intelligence from open sources. This has developed with the advent
of the Internet. It concerns data collected on the digital media, in the
specialised press, and on the social networks. There is such a mass of
information that computer systems for processing and storage have been
developed. This is known as “Big Data”. From this ocean of information,
partly polluted, it is possible to extract nuggets of information without
the owner knowing, and also information of lesser importance, but which, if
exploited intelligently, can produce useful strategic knowledge.
Clearly, intelligence services are not the only ones to access such
information, but it can serve as a stepping-stone for the collection of
less accessible information. In other words, thanks to the Internet
intelligence services today can get a better grasp of the information that
is available, which enables them to target what is really secret or not
directly accessible, and which it is their job to discover.