As far as intelligence organizations, intelligence designates information that is gathered by these governmental agencies and used for purposes of national security and foreign policy. The US Intelligence Community is comprised of sixteen agencies but the total number of security and intelligences agencies is much larger covering an impressive number of possible threats to national security; it included the Central Intelligence Agency – CIA – an independent organization. Thesis: Intelligence responsibilities need to be shared by multiple agencies because different threats require different approaches; this would also prevent prevailing partisan influences. Intelligence agencies are governmental thus political tools for shaping foreign policy and for homeland protection hence they are subject to the process of specialization. Specialization is a concept which is applied to science; it allows close study of problems and theories; its downside is that it focuses the attention on a single area of study which in turn, limits valid perspectives in other areas which might influence our area of interest. Specialization is needed not only in the academic field but also for its contributions to public discourse and policy1. Intelligence techniques are utilized both during war and peace for a wide range of foreign policy functions, from espionage to political assassination.
In the case of public policy making, decision makers apply one instrument in a set of cases based on estimates of likely effects. The governmental function of intelligence agencies are normally shrouded in secrecy. As far as foreign intelligence, it implies understanding past events, analyzing current conditions, and thus attempting to predict the future. This predictability is crucial to intelligence agencies whose mission is to gather information, provide a coherent analysis, and cooperate with other institutions. Some voices are quite critical of the way in...