The Intelligence Intellectuals: Social Scientists and the Making of the CIA

On 25 June 1950, North Korea’s Korean People Army crossed the 38th parallel launching a full-scale invasion of South Korea. American President Harry S. Truman calls his advisors and military officers into an emergency meeting. What is telling about those who gathered that day was who was not invited to the critical meeting – the Central Intelligence Agency – was excluded from the proceedings. A relative newcomer to the national security world, the invasion was seen as the latest example of the CIA’s failure to anticipate a major global event. Criticism of the agency was widespread and many wondered what value they offered. The problem was while everyone understood what intelligence work involved during wartime, making sense of what intelligence […]