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Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence
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Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence

Second Edition

Other Titles in:
Intelligence | Security & Conflict

October 2016 | 408 pages | CQ Press
The Second Edition of Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence provides a basic introduction to the critical thinking skills employed within the intelligence community.  This easy-to-use handbook is framed around twenty key questions that all analysts must ask themselves as they prepare to conduct research, generate hypotheses, evaluate sources of information, draft papers, and ultimately present analysis.  Drawing upon their decades of teaching and analytic experience, Katherine Hibbs Pherson and Randolph H. Pherson have updated the book with useful graphics that diagram and display the processes and structured analytic techniques used to arrive at the best possible analytical product.
 
List of Tables, Figures, and Boxes
 
Foreword
 
Preface
 
About the Authors
 
Introduction to the Second Edition
 
Introduction
 
Part I. How Do I Get Started?
 
1. Who Are Your Clients?
 
2. What Are the Key Questions?
 
3. What Is the Broader Context for the Analysis?
 
4. How Should I Conceptualize My Product?
 
5. What Is My Analytic Approach?
 
6. Can Collaboration Contribute to a Better Answer?
 
Part II. Where Is the Information I Need?
 
7. How Do Models Help My Analysis?
 
8. What Types of Information Are Available?
 
9. Can I Trust the Sources?
 
10. How Should I Assess the Reliability of Internet Information?
 
Part III. What Is My Argument?
 
11. Are My Key Assumptions Well-Founded?
 
12. Can I Make My Case?
 
13. Did I Consider Alternative Hypotheses?
 
14. How Do I Deal With Politicization?
 
15. How Might I Be Spectacularly Wrong?
 
Part IV. How Do I Convey My Message Effectively?
 
16. Is My Argument Persuasive?
 
17. How Should I Portray Probability, Levels of Confidence, and Quantitative Data?
 
18. How Can Graphics Support My Analysis?
 
19. How Do I Present My Message in the Most Compelling Way?
 
20. How Do I Know When I Am Finished?
 
Part V. Case Studies
 
I. Countering the Iranian Nuclear Threat: Stuxnet and Its Broader Implications
 
II. Puzzling Food Poisonings in Germany
 
III. The End of the Era of Aircraft Carriers
 
IV. Financial Crises in the United States: Chronic or Avoidable?
 
V. Yemen: An Expanding Security Threat?
 
Glossary of Terms
 
List of Names
 
Recommended Readings
 
US Government Publications
 
Index
 
The Analyst’s Roadmap (Inside Back Cover)

Supplements

Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence is engaging, easy to read and understand, and provides support for the needed learning objectives. Additionally, these readings highlight the role and value of critical thinking in the intelligence process. The “Key Takeaways” sections are a great way to summarize the learning for the individual chapters. I could see it useful in discussion of the intelligence community, intelligence analysis, and the critical thinking skills required for many other courses.” 

Scott Winegar
Concordia University

Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence does an excellent job of teaching college students how to look at an issue; they figure out what is needed, find and evaluate information sources, and then put it all together in a coherent product which has facts, assumptions, implications, and conclusions. The book makes all these processes clearly identified.” 

Kenneth Stiles
Virginia Tech University

Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence is easy to read and presents complex technical information in a format which is engaging and easy to follow. I love the marriage of theory and practice, including the exercises like the analysis of case studies which shows the student what a real analyst does and what that process looks like.”

Mary Manjikian
Regent University

With Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence, Kathy and Randy have continued to make significant contributions to the development of the profession of Intelligence Analysis.  Their work has been focused on improving the skills and the professionalism of the practitioner.  They have through their consulting, their training, and their publications set a standard for all of us to follow who are committed to the same goals. Their model is impressive.”

Dit Talley
John Hopkins University

"Pherson & Pherson’s Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence is the best example of applying critical thinking I've ever found. The book actually provides the "how to" do the things formatted according to the phases of the intelligence cycle other books present conceptually."

Dighton (Mac) Fiddner
Indiana University of Pennsylvania

Sample Materials & Chapters

Chapter 5

Chapter 12


Katherine Hibbs Pherson

Katherine Hibbs Pherson, President of Globalytica, LLC, consults with government and private industry on building strong analytic communities, the use of structured analytic techniques, and security issues. She teaches certificate courses on structured thinking and presentation for the security association ASIS International and in the Intelligence Masters program at Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid, Spain. As Vice Chair of the Intelligence and National Security Association (INSA)’s Security Policy Reform Council, she was primary drafter of its white paper titled “Next Steps for... More About Author

Randolph H. Pherson

Randolph H. Pherson is president of Pherson Associates, LLC; CEO of Globalytica, LLC; and a founding director of the nonprofit Forum Foundation for Analytic Excellence. He teaches advanced analytic techniques and critical thinking skills to analysts in the government and private sector. Mr. Pherson collaborated with Richards Heuer Jr. in developing and launching use of Analysis of Competing Hypotheses, and he developed several analytic techniques for the CIA’s Sherman Kent School, many of which were incorporated in his Handbook of Analytic Tools and Techniques. He coauthored Critical Thinking for Strategic Intelligence with Katherine Hibbs... More About Author

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ISBN: 9781506316888
$45.00