E3I:Ethics, Ecology, Evolution, and Intelligence

6 Pages·1992·0.64 MB·English

by  ROBERT DAVID STEELE

Ecology,
Evolution,
and Intelligence
Government is not built to perceive large truths; only people can perceive
great truths. Governments specialize in small and intermediate truths.
They have to be instructed by their people in great truths.
BY ROBERT DAVID
And the particular truth in which they need instruction
STEELE
today is that new means for meeting the largest
problems on earth have to be created.
--Norman Cousins~
¯ The shoc~ waves from the collapse of communism are still destray~ng
histo~ old structures, particularly in Washington. Change agents, long
dormant or ignored, are suddenly popular.
Not long after I read "Army Green" (p. 58) and met John Petersen, author of
HE ERA OF NATIONAL
’~i/I the Nlilito~y Miss the MarketY’ (~. 62), I started ge~ng foxes from a fellow
intelligence, with its unsung heroes
in the U.S. Marine Corps Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence
and occasional rogue elephants in the
Dopartsnent. Robert D. Steele wanted to talk about his hopes for restructuring the
war against communism, socialism, and
intelligence mission and redefining national secur~y. And he wanted me to talk to
other perceived evils, has come to an
representatives of the intelligence community about transforming themselves into
end. The Depaii~ent of Defense and
an intelligent community. I greeted his ideas w~h pelite skop~n, to which he re-
the national intelligence community are
spended by sending me same of the things he had writton for intelligence joumais
striving to restructure, desperately seek-
about "open-source" intelligence. That means making i~tolligeat use of~ublidy
ing to preserve a semblance of their once
available information, instead of e~vert and classified sourc~ There are some
massive organizations. Both are redefin-
wild.eyed radicals out there, all ~ and some of them are in the Pentagon/
ing their roles and missions in order to
Who knows? Maybe Stee/e is a ~onary, one of the fi~t to see that the intelli.
remain competitive in the budget battles
gence agencies of the Cold War era might be forced by cirasmstances to redefine
of the future.
their mission to take into account the dire state of the biosphe~ Stranger things
The brain and heart of the nati6nal secu-
have happened lately.
rity "firm" have always been command
Robert Steele, by his own des~ is: "... a former Foreign Service officer and and control, communications, computers,
Marine Corps infantry offer, holds ~wo graduate degrees and is a distinguished and intelligence, known by the acronym
graduate of the Naval War College. He ha~ spent most of his life in latin Ameba C3I. I propose an alternative paradigm for
the intelligence community of the twenty-
.and Asia, and is of Hispanic herita~ As a Marine Corps civilian he was respen.
first century, one which focuses on objec-
sible for standing up the new USNiC Intelligence Center in Quant~o, where he de-
fives and outcomes rather than sources
veloped many of his views about tl~ relat~ util~ to his Marine Corps consumers and methods. My approach, which in-
of unclassified versus classified informa~or~" --Howard Rheingo/d tegrates ethics, ecology, evolution, and
4
wHo~ EARTH REVIE’VV FALL 1992
intelligence (E3I), represents a radi- which we must grapple if we are to rain a national intelligence capa-
cal change in perspective on what manage our national security, and bility? Is it to warn us of threats
we should be emphasizing as we the intelligence community, in a (unprbvoked nuclear attack, bio-
adapt to our changed circumstances responsible fashion. chemical terrorism, computer "hit-
and prepare for future challenges. First, how do we define national and-run" assaults)? Is it to inform
Such a paradi~n could be described security? Do we limit ourselves to us of systematic campaigns to un-
as the "open books" equivalent of "megaprotection" -- strategic dermine our economy, our sociob
the "open skies" concept being ap- nuclear and conventional deter- ogy, or even our biology? Or i~. it
plied to arms control: the true value rence -- while ignoring domestic part of a "commonwealth" sensor
of "intelligence" to our nation lies crime, the loss of economic com- system, intended to monitor our
in its informative value, a value petitiveness, and the degradation of internal and external stability, to
which increases with dissemination.
our external environment and our educate our offidals, our citizens,
The emphasis within our national
internal competence (a combination and our foreign partners regard-
intelligence community should be
of character and education)? If "na- ing emerging conditions, organiza-
on open sources, free exchanges
tional security" is defined as the tions, and personalities inimical to
between government and private-
preservation of our national culture, "steady-state" evolution? If the na-
sector analysts, and unclassified
of our way of life, of the conditions tion is defined as the dtizenry and
production.
which permit the pursuit of happi- its commonweal, rather than as the
We have an opportunity to recast ness and prosperity, then some- poetical apex of the government
our national intelligence apparatus, thing is seriously wrong with both bureaucracy, then a radical new in-
and tntly put it in the national ser- our defense structure (including terpretation of the mission, sources,
vice -- that is, the service of the law enforcement), and our "na- and methods of the national intel-
public -- rather than repeat its tional" intelligence capabilities. ligence apparat is ~[uired.
Such an interpretation is intended
to make national intelligence more
relevant to what should be two top
If the nation is defined as the citizenry and its
national priorities: the preservation
of our culture and a strong ethical
commonweal, rather than as the political apex of the
foundation for that culture; and the
preservation (indeed, the restora-
government bureaucracy, then a radical new interpre-
tion) of our environment. Intelli-
tation of the mission, sources, and methods of the gence can play a very significant
part in the recasting of our national
national intelligence apparat is required.
government and its relationship
¯
with the private sector; intelligence
can be teacher, mentor, lifeguard,
and coach. National intelligence is
an essential element of our national
history of servitude and sublima- Second, who is the customer for
competence, vision, purpose, and
tion in the shadow of a restricted, national intelligence? Is it the presi-
cohesion. Only a small fraction of
myopic group of policy-makers dent, who has little time to digest or
national intelligence should be
whose circumstances have frequent- consider the distilled product of a
"classified": while some classified
ly precluded long-range planning multibillion-dollar global network
information is essential to effective
and rational (as opposed to politi- of human and technical capabilities?
diplomacy and executive action,
cal) decision-making. I propose to Is it the top one hundred govern-
the classification and restriction of
link national intelligence with na- ment officials? Is it Congress? Is it a
knowledge are inherently counter-
tional competitiveness in a very combination or congressional staff-
productive and fraught with the
tangible way, making intelligence ers and executive-branch action
risk of corruption.
the apex of the knowledge infra- officers? Or could "the customer"
structure, and the catalyst for a include the media, the academy,
dramatic improvement in our abil- and the private sector? " " Ethics and Intelligence
ity to recognize change and oppor-
Third, given a sense of national After seventeen years’ experience
tunities for advantage. Only in this
security (however defined) and an in government, I am convinced
way can we quickly retrain our
adequate definition of the customer that secrets are inherently patho-
people, retool our plants, and revise
base that national intelligence is logical, undermining reasoned
our product lines so as to maintain
meant to serve, the final question judgment and open discussion.
a prosperous, profitable nation.
must be: "What is our objective?" With the exception of relatively
There are three questions with To what end do we wish to main- limited technical information and
ning to recognize, represent a cu-
mulative threat to our survivability
and prosperity. These are subtle
t is now clear to all of us that we are
threats, difficult to observe and un-
derstand, and the remedies are also
"losing our mind" as a nation.
subtle, difficult to articulate and
implement. As a result, we are now
in the same position as a forest
ranger who, for being so intent on
avoiding the bear, fails to see the
encircling fires. Now both the
some information about plans and and knowledge. On the contrary,
ranger and the bear are about
intentions, most of what we want this paradigm forces the issue of
to be burned alive.
to know is readily and cheaply ¯ "who owns knowledge?" (I main-
available through the art and tain it is in the public domain) and Evolution requires recognition of
science of scholarship and severely limits the degree to which change, flexibility of posture, and
personal interaction. any organization, in or out of gov- fleetness of adaptation. There are
It is one of the great tragedies of ernment, can withhold knowledge only two ways to "force" evolution:
our time that scholarship has lost from the public. through overwhelming force, a role
so much ground, has been forced this nation will never accept (we
into mediocrity by the pressures of could have turned our forces loose
time, overload, and plain human Environment and on the Middle East and totally
failure. A lack of ethics and cred- Intelligence elimina~,d all weapons in both
ibility in the academic community the Arab coalition and Israel); or
We are our own worst enemy.
leads directly to ethical abuse in the ,through education. This latter ap-
Although there is a healthy increase
intelligence community, for even proach (the preferred solution for a
in interest by our national leader-
when hiding behind secrets, the in- democracy) requires an educated
ship in environmental intelligence,
telligence community has always citizenry. It is now clear to all of us
it is directed outward. The data
been vulnerable to the detection of that we are "losing our mind"* as a
obtained by national intelligence
ridiculous assumptions by artic- nation; I see national intelligence,
about external environmental con-
ulate and insightful scholars. and a presidential initiative in con-
ditions and practices must be fully
veying to every citizen the nature of
A wise man once said, "A nation’s integrable with state and local data
the nonmilitary threats to our sur-
best defense is an educated citizen- on environmental conditions and
vival, as the only means of cata-
ry." One could make the case that practices. Only in this way can we
lyzing our educational system into
knowledge is the foundation of reasonably assess the "cost" of a
reform. From education comes evo-
democracy, and that without an specific product in relation to both
lution -- the alternative is deepen-
"open books" approach to national . inefficient production processes
ing depression and ultimate chaos,
knowledge, we are destined to be- (which consume raw materials in
as the nine regionp, of North Amer-
come the slaves of the rich, or excess, and produce waste and pol-
ica choose to fend for themselves,
worse. The purchasing and secur- lution which also "cost" the indi-
and ethnic fragmentation takes
ing of patents for more fuel-efficient vidual in terms of resources, time,
its toll on the commonweal.
engines, "indestructible" polymeric and money required for mechanical
paints, and other good ideas, solely disposal), and environmental deg- Where do we start? I see intelli-
to protect investments in archaic in- radation. Taken in combination, gence as part of a continuum, or a
dustrial plants, il~. ustrate the prob- what we are doing to the environ- larger national construct, which
lems that occur when knowledge is ment through tacit sanction by our must also include our formal edu-
treated as property. Individuals end national energy, trade, d.efense, cational process, our informal
up paying much more for certain housing, and education policies is cultural values, our structured in-
products, both because of inefficient far worse, every day, than a whole formation-technology architecture,
production processes and because series of Chernobyls.3 our informal social and professional
there is insufficient knowledge networks for information exchange,
of external diseconomies such our political governance system
as pollution and waste.’ Evolution and Intelligence extending not only internationally
My proposed paradigm in no way The Cold War cost us both,re- but down to the state, local, and
allows for the establishment of a sources and perspective. Because of citizen level; and, as traditional/y
defined, as an integral element
government monopoly on informa- the Cold War, we paid no attention
tion handling, or government con- to "lesser" threats and circum- of the federal bureaucracy.
trol over the way we manage data stances which, we are now begin- Again, with a genuflection toward
civil Libertarians, I must stress that most of it overclassified, too officers, and have little significant
my "open books" approach to a narrowly focused, and untimely interaction with their acaderrdc,
national knowledge architecture enough to be almost useless when
industrial, and foreign counter-
in no way creates a government contrasted with the flood of "good parts ~ in part because of security
monopoly or increases government enough" open-source material restrictions and in part because
opportunities to impose "necessary (which does not need a mass of
intelligence management refuses
illusions"S; on the contrary, this ap- security guards to register and con- to give them the time to travel,
proach to knowledge represents a trol the data). The nontraditional
train, and reflect. Analysts are
radical departure from the current consumers at the federal level re-
instead chained to their desks,
practice of allowing organizations ceive little or no intelligence support,
force-fed a dry diet of hard-copy
to conceal and manipulate knowl- and there is no systematic integra-
intelLigence, deprived of most open-
edge against the common interest. tion, correlation, or comparison of
source materials, and expected to
On this basis, one can suggest that the open-source information they "produce" sterile, uncontroversial,
Congress and the Executive would use with the secret data of the "objective" reports.
be seriously remiss if they were not intelligence community.
In my judgment, analysts should
moving aggressively toward a na-
spend one-third of their time travel-
tional open-systems architecture
Priority to People ing and training, one-third working
and simple, direct connectivity
directly with consumers (including
between public and private edu- What steps must we take today
academic and industrial consumers),
cational institutions (e.g., reference~ to achieve an integrated national in-
and one-third doing analysis that
librarians and Library search sys- telligence system by the year 20017
may or may not result in a product.
tems); corporate marketing and The intelligence community spends We should nurture private-sector
research centers; state and local too much money on extremely ex- analysts as well as government ana-
government information centers; pensive technical collection systems, lysts, perhaps by providing joint
ethnic, reLigious, and other cultural whose flood of digital information training programs, joint travel
information "gatekeepers"; and, cannot be processed by existing or opportunities, and so on.
ultimately, any citizen’s computer planned methods and personnel.
terminal. Less than 10 percent of what we
That is the long-term objective. A collect with these systems is proc- Priority to Open Sources
measure of our situation today is essed, calling into question the I have written elsewhere~ about
return on investment. Our analysts
the degree to which the intelligence our desperate need for a National
are few in number, and generally
community is integrated with all Information Agency, an agency
inexperienced -- few analysts re-
of the departments of the federal untainted and unbiased by associa-
sponsible for the study of a parti-
government (Agriculture, Com- tion with the traditional intelligence
cular country, for instance, have
merce, Education, Energy, Housing community. Elements of the gov-
ever actually Lived in that country,
and Urban Development, Interior, ernment now dealing with open
learned the language, or gotten to
Justice, Education), not just the sources should be consoLidated in
know the social nature and cultural
traditional national security depart-. such an agency and granted an in-
character of the people about whom
ments (State, Defense). The answer dependent charter to enable them
is not good. In fact, it is very bad, they are supposed to be "expert." to support not only the intelligence
for even the traditional customers Our analysts are also cloistered community, and the remainder of
must receive their "intelligence" in away from their customers, the the federal government that has
bulky compendiums of hard-copy, policy-makers and the action been starved for information, but
also the private sector and even for-
eign organizations as appropriate.
Such an agency would not be
successful without a direct con-
gressional charter and separate pro-
gram, and I therefore recommend
he intelligence community spends too
that Congress folIow the precedent
much money on extremely expensive it created with Special Operations/
Low Intensity Conflict, and create
technical collecrJon systems, whose flood a Consolidated Open Source Pro-
gram. A significant portion of the
of’digital informarJon cannot be processed funds in this program should be
used to build upon the funds ap-
by exis ’ng or planned methods and personnel.
propriated for the National Security
Education Act of 1991, and used
to dramatically upgrade educa- fled, extremely accurate photo- adequate, in that we have not
tional programs (beginning in graph or report that they cannot truly come to grips with what our
elementary school) and industrial share with their counterparts. Ana- changed national strategy should
information resources devoted to lysts should be able to use classified be, nor with what changes should
our knowledge of the international information to inform themselves take place in relations between our
physical, political, economic, and and validate their views, but they government and the private sector,
cultural environment. should focus production efforts on
between our nation and other
the unclassified side, providing in- nations, and between US non-
formation that can go not only to governmental organizations and
Priority to Open Systems
individual government consumers, foreign or international nongov-
The issues of privacy and com- but also into the public domain ernmental organizations.7
puter security aside, there is much through open architecture.
In brief, as nuclear and conven-
to be said for accelerating the elec-
tional forces cease to be the arbiters
tronic connectivity of the nation;
Redefine National of power; as many (though not all)
as quickly as possible, every gov-
nation-states regress to pre-sover-
ernment action officer should be Security
eign conditions; and as other forces
made accessible through Internet-
A presidential blue-ribbon com- (economics, environmen~ changes,
like channels, and every university
mission, comprising representatives and ideocultural movements) come
professor, high-school geography
of various industries, academic to the fore as key areas of compe-
or history teacher, business execu-
sectors, and major departments tition and challenge, we need to re-
tive, and student should be part
of government, should be brought define who our national intelligence
of a national network of readily
together to redefine national se- consumers are. In economic war-
identifiable individuals with
curity and our national strategic fare, our private sector (industry,
common interests.
objectives. Some progress has been academia, and the dtizenry) pro-
The National Research and Educa- made in this direction through
tion Network initiative (WER #70, National Security Review 29; the. quires the kind of support that
p. 12) is a good one, but if we do results, which include significantly intelligence has previously pro-
not provide for the rural roads and increased emphasis on the envi- vided to the tactical commander. In
comfort stations needed by individ- ronment as a "target" for collection ideocultural competition, it is pri-
uals, this initiative will be of little and analysis, are nevertheless in- marily private-sector organizations
value to the broad popu-
lation of literate persons
requiring rapid access to
multimedia knowledge. I
would move the govern- Notes
ment, including the national
security structure, to an un-
classified open-systems 4. I take this notion from Chester E.
(Norton, 1987). Finn, Jr,’s We Must Take Charge: Our
baseline, and sharply reduce
Schools and Our Future (Free Press,
the production and dissem- 2. For an interesting examination of
1991); two other books of note, both
ination of classified infor- how an industrial system also under-
focused on content, character, and
mation while increasing the mines the moral foundation of a soci-
culture, are those of Allan Bloom, The
availability of government- ety- kinship -- and thus establishes Closing of the American Mind (Touch-
collected and -generated the foundation for national and indus- stone, 1987) and Will|am J. Bennett,
information to the public trial decision-making against the best The Devaluing of America: The Fight
interests of people qua people, see
through electronic channels. far Our Culture and Our Children
Lionel Tiger, The Manufacture of Evil: (Summit, 1992).
Consumers of intelligence Ethics, Evolution, and the Industrial
-- including the highest System (Harper & Row, 1987). 5. I take this phrase from Noam
policy-making officials Chomsky’s Necessary lllusiom: Thought
whom the multibillion-dol- e3r. nW aElvotleurt iTornu:e Ftutr Atnhdere rAsdovnen’tsu Troe sG oovf- t.h e Control in Denmcratic Societ~ (South
lar community considers its End, 1989). See also Edwan:l S. Her-
Political Animal (Harcourt, 1987), while
man and Noam Chormky, Manufac-
most important customers
as yet obscure, is in my judgment as
turing Consent: T~e Political Econonnd
-- have often stated that important to our future as the Commu-
of the Mass Media (Pantheon, 1988).
they would rather have an nist Manifesto was to Lenin and com-
unclassified surrogate that pany. If Anderson or someone like 6. "Applying the "New Paradigm’:
is "good enough to work him is ever president, I want to be ~
with" than a highly classi- national information advocate.
8 WHOLE EARTH REVIEW FALL 1~92
that require an improved under- merce; or through revolution, in provide our public with an "open-
standing of their "competition" and which the people, aided by hackers, books" approach to knowledge and
of the demographic playing field break open the vaults of knowledge government management, while
upon which they are competing. and refuse the government and significantly increasing the synergy
¯ We no longer need multibillion-dol- private-sector organizations their between private-sector data and
lar investments in systems designed current privileged access to knowl- public-sector data.
to cover strategic nuclear missiles; edge that merits dissemination and
instead, we need a multibillion- exploitation. Our progress in taming the elec-
dollar investment in national tronic frontier must be accompa-
For those concerned about the pro-
knowledge architectures, and nied by a maturing of our national
tection of privacy, with civil-liber-
global collection, analysis, and dis- policies and laws; without such
tarian issues, I would again stress
semination sources and methods changes in the political and legal
that my concept of national intelli-
that are open, free, and unclassified. environments, technical progress
gence is focused on collecting pre-
will exacerbate the conflict between
These thoughts are consistent with dominantly open information about
citizens and organizations, leading
those of Mitch Kapor and his con- conditions and entities beyond our
ultimately to revolution and elec-
cept of a National Public Network borders, for the purpose of inform-
tronic anarchy. Early adoption of an
(WER #74, p. 72). My point is a ing our public and private persons;
alternative paradigm-- one that in-
simple one: national power ulti- my concept does not call for the col-
tegrates ethics, ecology, and evolu-
mately stems from the people, even lection of information about people
tion, as fundamental aspects of
if that power might be abdicated by within our borders m in fact, were
national intelligence, and puts na-
¯ the people or co-opted by the rich knowledge about our people neces-
tional intelligence in its place at one
and political. Knowledge is power, sary (for demographic studies,
end of a continuum of information
and one could say that the people census reviews, etc.), I would be
and education services to the
require and will obtain knowledge among the first to call for "elec-
people-- could avoid the conflicts
in one of two ways: by participat- tronic aliases" in which it would
inherent in our current chaotic elec-
ing in a cooperative venture in be illegal to associate a true name
tronic environment, while accelerat-
which the government facilitates with any compiled information
ing our ability to recognize and
and nurtures information ex- about more than one person. By
adapt to changed circumstances.
change, in much the same way stressing the prominence of unclas-
that it facilitated interstate corn- sifted information, we essentially As civilization has evolved, and
the sources of power have
changed from tribal mass
to political force to finan-
cial leverage, each era has
faced the challenge of
adapting to change. We
How to Avoid Strategic Intelligence 1983); William Lind, Cultural Conser- have reached a turning
Failures in the Future," American vatism: Toward a New National Agenda point, one where the ul-
Intelligence Journal (Autumn 1991), (Institute for Cultural Conservatism, timate source of power
pp. 43-46. 1987); Herbert Stein, Governing the $5 is finally recognized --
Trillion Economy (Oxford, 1989); Albert knowledge. I conclude
7. I hold the view that government
L. Malabre, Jr., Within Our Means: The with an observation from
cannot abdicate its role in nurturing
Struggle for Economic Recovery After a Will and Ariel Durant,
our culture and its educational foun-
Reckless Dec.a_de (Random House, 1991);
dation -- that statecraft is indeed who, in their lifetime of
and David M. Abshire, Preventing
soulcraft; and that government expen- studying civilizations,
World War lII: A Realistic Grand Strat-
ditures are less important with respect came to the following
egy (Harper & Row, 1988). The latter
to what they actually purchase in ser- book, despite its title, is a superb de- reali7ation:
vices, and more important in terms of
scription of how the president should The only real revo-
their influence on the private seclor:.
t~k.e charge of long-term policy plan- . lution is in the enlight-
government expenditures should es-
nLng across all dimensions of our enment of the mind and
tablish a foundation that encourages
domestic and foreign environment. the improvement of
private sector outlays in positive
ethical and environmental direclions. 8. Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons character, the only real
Among the books that have influ- of Histary (Simon & Schuster, 1968), emancipation is indi-
enced my thinking are those of George p. 72. v. idual, and the only
Will, Statecraft as Souicraft: What real revolutionists are
ernment Does (Simon & Schuster,
philosophers and
saints,s ~t