HSE 430 WK 7 Responses
Task 2: After you have created your new discussion topic, you are required to read and respond to a minimum of 2 of your classmates discussion topics. Think of your responses in terms of a contribution to a dialogue, not a writing exercise or a chat room. Elaborate a single idea and keep your post short but concise as if you were holding a conversation with your classmate(s). Incorporate what you have learned from the weekly reading material and from your own real-world experiences. Don’t forget to use proper APA citations and references whenever necessary.
Book: M. M. Lowenthal (2022). Intelligence: from Secrets to Policy 9th edition. CQ Press.
Serenity: The events of the cold war had major implications for transnational intelligence. By far, during the first few decades of its inception, the Soviet Union and related entities accounted for over half of the U.S intelligence budget and resources. So naturally, after tensions died down between the U.S and Soviet Union, citizens were longing for a reallocation of resources which would allow the U.S to focus on the needs of the nations. Which did occur since the spending on U.S defense became as low as 4.6 of the U.S GDP. Another implication that might have jeopardized national security was that other remaining issues were of less importance than a nuclear Soviet Union. The last implication was that there were only a few attempts (which failed) to make our U.S national security more cohesive.
Cyberspace conflict has many terms and has evolved over the past two decades. The issue with intelligence in cyberspace is that since it is a relatively new concept there is not much policy on conflict in cyberspace. Cyberspace can be used in intelligence because it can be used as another source of important information. As Google and Apple become stricter on privacy and encryption, accessing this information may prove to be difficult. Terrorists and cybercriminals are also becoming more and more tech savvy, making it hard to adjust to such an ever changing landscape. One major moral and ethical concern is the role of intelligence during war and peace times. It seems that during times of ‘peace’ between hostile nations, intelligence officials are then used as means of virtual combat without any physical battles like the Cold War for instance. Which calls to question then, if Nation A assumes that nation B is threatening them with war, does Nation A have the right to gather intelligence before any actual war occurs under the premise of self-defense?
References:
Lowenthal, M. M. (2022).
Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy. CQ Press.
Juan:
The containment policy after WWII meant stopping the Soviet Union from expanding its communist ideas to other countries. This was accomplished by making other countries wealthy and powerful enough that they would not be tempered by the communist party. Contain and threats from other nations can be overwhelming from the intelligence perspective. The concept of containment requires you to know almost everything relating to your enemy. Gathering information on the enemy’s vulnerabilities and how to exploit them is very important.
Cyberspace and cyber threats are relatively old concepts but the consistency in which adversaries use them to launch attacks is new. Cyberattacks can be launched to disrupt operations, steal sensitive information, and much more. The intelligence community has to learn how to protect against it but can also conduct similar covert operations to gain information. The most pressing ethical and moral issue that the intelligence community faces is how far are they willing to go to achieve the end state. Throughout time there have been many instances in which the manner intelligence is gathered has been questionable, hence the torture cases of prisoners in Guantamano Bay.
Lowenthal, Mark M. Intelligence. Available from: VitalSource Bookshelf, (9th Edition). SAGE Publications, Inc. (US), 2022
RUBRIC BELOW
1. Discussion Forum
Discussion forum participation will be graded using the following criteria:
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2 points
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3 points
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4 points
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5 points
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Engagement / Interaction
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N/A – no points are available for this criterion
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engaged in a meaningful and relevant dialog with at least one peers
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N/A – no points are available for this criterion
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engaged in a meaningful and relevant dialog with
two or more peers
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Participation
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N/A – no points are available for this criterion
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participated on one days
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N/A – no points are available for this criterion
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participated on
two or more days
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Content / Topic Relevance
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discussion forum contributions rarely addressed the main topic
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discussion forum contributions sometimes addressed the main topic
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discussion forum contributions very often addressed the main topic
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discussion forum contributions always addressed the main topic
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Timeliness
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N/A – no points are available for this criterion
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responded to main topic one day after the first post due date
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N/A – no points are available for this criterion
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responded to main topic the day of the first post due date
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Content / Topic Knowledge
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displays a fair understanding of the material
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displays a good understanding of the material
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displays a very good understanding of the material
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displays an excellent understanding of the material
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