Date of Graduation
Spring 2009
Degree
Master of Science in Defense and Strategic Studies
Department
Defense and Strategic Studies
Committee Chair
Bradley Thayer
Abstract
US counterintelligence was created to combat state actors. It began with the Revolutionary war, and was a key instrument in all-major state conflicts since then. However, counterintelligence saw its biggest role during the half century Cold War with Soviet Union. However, with the demise of the Soviet Union, a new threat emerged, non-state actors, i.e. terrorists. This threat was not fully confronted until the tragic events of September 11th forced the United States to engage an enemy that is very deceptive and difficult to penetrate. With a new enemy there needs to be a refocus of counterintelligence to combat terrorism. There must be a focus on both offensive and defensive counterintelligence in order to combat this adversary. Also, there must be a single counterintelligence agency that is responsible for overseeing offensive counterintelligence operations. However, since counterintelligence has for so long be used to hinder the activities of state actors, the necessary changes may prove difficult to implement in the counterintelligence policies.
Keywords
counterintelligence, terrorism, war on terror, Al-Qaeda, bin-Laden, deny, deceive
Subject Categories
Defense and Security Studies
Copyright
© Michael Jason Friedman
Recommended Citation
Friedman, Michael Jason, "The Use of Counterintelligence in the War on Terror: Deny, Deceive, Exploit, Reform" (2009). MSU Graduate Theses. 2895.
https://bearworks.missouristate.edu/theses/2895
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