Reducing Uncertainty: Intelligence Analysis and National Security

An look at what Intelligence Community analysts do and how, and how they are affected by the political context that shapes, uses and abuses their outputs.

The US government spends billions of dollars every year to reduce uncertainty: to monitor and forecast everything from the weather to the spread of disease. In other words, we spend a lot of money to anticipate problems, identify opportunities, and avoid mistakes. A substantial portion of what we spend—over $50 billion a year—goes to the ...