Subordinating Intelligence

The DoD/CIA Post-Cold War Relationship

David P. Oakley

Narrated by

Available from Audible

Book published by University Press of Kentucky

In the late eighties and early nineties, driven by the post–Cold War environment and lessons learned during military operations, United States policy makers made intelligence support to the military the Intelligence Community's top priority. In response to this demand, the CIA and DoD instituted policy and organizational changes that altered their relationship with one another. While debates over the future of the Intelligence Community were occurring on Capitol Hill, the CIA and DoD were expanding their relationship in peacekeeping and nation-building operations in Somalia and the Balkans.

By the late 1990s, some policy makers and national security professionals became concerned that intelligence support to military operations had gone too far. In Subordinating Intelligence: The DoD/CIA Post–Cold War Relationship, David P. Oakley reveals that, despite these concerns, no major changes to national intelligence or its priorities were implemented. These concerns were forgotten after 9/11, as the United States fought two wars and policy makers increasingly focused on tactical and operational actions. As policy makers became fixated with terrorism and the United States fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA directed a significant amount of its resources toward global counterterrorism efforts and in support of military operations.

REVIEWS:

“On 9/11, somnolent Bush administration officials were panicked and chagrined, perhaps none more so than then-secretary of defense Donald Rumsfeld. As David P. Oakley, an American former army and intelligence officer, observes in his... informative Subordinating Intelligence, Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney, the vice president, persuaded Bush to militarise US foreign policy via the 'global war on terrorism'.”

—Survival: Global Politics and Strategy

“Oakley, a former Army and CIA officer, draws on personal experience, a wealth of government documents, and an impressive array of interviews to produce a sophisticated history of the relationship between the CIA and the Department of Defense over four decades.... More than just a history, the book provides a clear framework for how and why change occurred, particularly highlighting the role of influential individuals in positions of power... those interested in the US military and intelligence community will find this valuable and fascinating.”

—A. G. Reiter, Mount Holyoke College, CHOICE

“David Oakley has compiled a compelling and informative assessment of the history of the CIA and DoD during a critical time of US history. His attention to detail and rigorous exploitation of source material provide for a rich and unrivaled account that should be included on the reading lists of scholars and practitioners alike. Though historical in focus, the subject matter could not be more relevant for today's times.”

—David H. Ucko, author of The New Counterinsurgency Era: Transforming the US Military for Modern Wars

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Change on the Horizon

The Gulf War

The Guld War's Aftermath: From Victory to Vitriol

End of the Cold War and the Continuation of Reform

'It's the Economy, Stupid': The Clinton Years and Intelligence Reform

A New Administration

9/11 and the Global War on Terror

Everything Comes with a Cost: Improved Operations, Organization Subordination, and Strategic Shortfalls