In Spies We Trust. The Story of Western Intelligence, Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones (Oxford: Oxford University Press 2013)

No abstract available

Fusing drug enforcement: a study of the El Paso Intelligence Center

This article examines the evolution of the El Paso Intelligence Center (EPIC), a key intelligence component of the Drug Enforcement Administration, to shed light on fusion efforts in drug enforcement. Since 1974, EPIC has strived to fuse the resources and capabilities of multiple government agencies to counter drug trafficking and related threats along the Southwest US border. While undergoing a steady growth, the Center has confronted a host of challenges that illuminate the uses and limits of multi-agency endeavors in drug enforcement. An evaluative study of the Center shows that it is well aligned with the federal government priorities in the realm of drug enforcement; however the extent to which the Center’s activities support the government’s efforts in this domain is not so clear. The Center needs to improve the way it reviews its own performance to better adapt and serve its customers

‘Standing on the shoulders of giants’: diversity and scholarship in Intelligence Studies

This study takes stock of the field of Intelligence Studies thanks to a quantitative review of all the articles published in the two main journals in the field: Intelligence and National Security and the International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence. Particular attention is paid to the diversity of the authors publishing in these two journals and the evolution of the issues they discuss. Publications in the field are widely authored by males based in the United States and the United Kingdom who write about Western intelligence and security organizations. Recent years have seen a slight diversification in the field but further efforts will be necessary to develop a more eclectic body of researchers and research on intelligence and national security

What science can teach us about “Enhanced Interrogation”

No abstract available

Qualitative research interviews and the study of national security intelligence

This article explores the rationales for using interviews as a research method to study national security intelligence, and provides a step-by-step guide for researchers to prepare, conduct, and use interviews in research fields limited by government secrecy. The epistemological and methodological challenges posed by qualitative interviews in the field of intelligence studies are not fundamentally different from those faced in the broader field of international relations. However, government secrecy exacerbates these challenges and increases the need to carefully design and conduct interviews in intelligence research. Scholars of international relations can draw lessons from the best practices of intelligence researchers to overcome these challenges. At the same time, contemporary methodological and epistemological developments in the field of international relations have the potential to broaden the study of intelligence. <br/><br/> Este artículo explica las razones que avalan el uso de las entrevistas como método de investigación para analizar la inteligencia de seguridad nacional. Además, incluye una guía paso a paso para que los investigadores puedan preparar, realizar y usar las entrevistas en áreas de investigación limitadas por el secreto gubernamental. Los desafíos epistemológicos y metodológicos que representan las entrevistas cualitativas en el área de los estudios de inteligencia no difieren, en esencia, de los que representa el amplio campo de las relaciones internacionales. Sin embargo, el secreto gubernamental intensifica dichos desafíos e incrementa la necesidad de diseñar y realizar con cuidado las entrevistas destinadas a la investigación de inteligencia. Los estudiosos de las relaciones internacionales pueden aprender de la labor realizada por los investigadores de inteligencia para superar esos desafíos. Al mismo tiempo, los desarrollos metodológicos y epistemológicos de la época contemporánea en el campo de las relaciones internacionales tienen el potencial de expandir el estudio de inteligencia

Industrial rotating kiln simulation

University of Technology, Sydney. Faculty of Science.A new industrial process is being developed to allow the commercial recovery of oil from oil shales. As part of this process, a rotating kiln is used to pyrolyse the organic component of the oil shales. The configuration and application of this rotating kiln is unique and hence previous rotating kiln models cannot be used to predict the solid behaviour in the current processor. It is the aim of this work to develop mathematical models which allow the prediction of mixing, segregation and heat transfer in industrial rotating kilns, especially with respect to the new rotating kiln technology trialed in the oil shale industry. Experiments were developed to observe and measure the mixing and segregation behaviour of solids in rotating drums. These experiments used image analysis and provided quantitative results. Further experiments were carried out to allow suitable scaling parameters to be developed. All the mixing experiments followed a constant mixing rate until the bed became fully mixed. The mixing rate and the final amount of mixing depended on the rotational velocity, the drum loading, the particle size and the material ratio. The segregation dynamics occurred too fast to be measured. However the final segregated state was measured and depended on the rotational velocity and the differences in particle sizes. Scaling parameters were developed that related the mixing and segregation results to the operational variables of the rotating kiln. Mathematical models were derived for the mixing and segregation of solids in a rotating kiln and these models included the developed scaling parameters so that these models would be useful for the prediction of the solid behaviour in industrial rotating kilns. The mathematical models were applied to independent experiments and it was found that they predicted the mixing and segregation to within the experimental error, even for different sized drums indicating that the developed scaling parameters were suitable. A computational simulation of the industrial rotating kiln processor was developed by combining the mathematical models of the mixing and segregation with heat transfer modelling applicable to this industrial rotating kiln. A case study was completed to study the behaviour of the industrial rotating kiln by changing operational variables, such as the rotational speed and the particle size. The developed simulation can be used to predict the dynamic behaviour of the rotating kiln used in the emerging oil from oil shale industry. This simulation can assist in further commercialisation of this new industrial process