Routledge Handbook of Strategic Culture

31 Strategic Culture and the US Intelligence Community

Roger Z. George and James J. Wirtz¹

DOI: 10.4324/9781003010302-35

At a conference on analysis sponsored by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in the mid-2000s, an invited senior investment manager made an interesting assertion about her firm’s prowess at predicting markets: “We are so good at foreign market forecasts because our financial analysts carry 60 different passports.” At that moment, it was clear how culture limited the ability of not only the CIA but also the entire US Intelligence Community (IC) to understand foreign governments’ behaviors. Every officer in the IC carries an American passport – one of the prerequisites for obtaining a security clearance is a willingness ...