I’ve added a DRAFT paper that was prepared for the ISA ISSS-ISAC conference in Washington, DC in early October. I was unable to circulate the paper at the conference itself. It still needs work with respect to the design of a true research and development program in order to bring the ideas put forward to life, but there seems to be a strong desire on the part of many I’ve spoken with to explore the relationship between analytic tradecraft, technology, and the interface between intelligence producers and consumers.
Continue Reading→Author: aaronbfrank
Interview with Jennifer Sims
On August 20th, 2012 I interviewed JS to discuss her theory of adaptive realism and the intelligence community more generally. As with other interviews, our conversation was far reaching, open and discursive. Thus, the following summary presents several key points that came up in conversation rather than provide an exhaustive transcript of our exchange.
Continue Reading→International Relations, Health Care and Counterfactuals
As is often the case, work projects steer me away from my primary research interests and bring me into contact with new and often surprising problems. While on the surface, these problems may share little with the more familiar terrain of international relations, national security and intelligence analysis, often times a surprisingly deep conceptual connection can be found (or at least constructed). As it happens, our Advanced Analytics practice at LMI is working on extending our reach outside of national security into health care, which makes us typical for many firms that see the long-term budgetary trends and opportunities to transition technology, analytic skills, and other offerings into new markets
Continue Reading→Interview with Carmen Medina
On June 5 and July 3 2012 I had the opportunity to talk with Carmen Medina (CM) in person and then follow-up with her over email correspondence. What follows is my summary of our extended discussion. As was the case with Leon Fuerth, CM did not have an opportunity to review my summary and correct any points that I may have misunderstood. Please keep that in mind when reading my characterization of her views in the event that I have misrepresented her ideas or experiences.
Continue Reading→The Story of this Blog… From International Relations to Evolution to Intelligence
Readers of this blog may have noted an apparent disconnect between the name denoting evolutionary perspectives on the international system and the heavy emphasis on intelligence analysis. Since starting this blog two years ago, I have been surprised by the shift in emphasis although the path connecting my interest in evolutionary theory, agent-based modeling and intelligence is a rather easy process to trace. I figured this would be a good time to document this path and explain how an initial commitment to complexity science and international relations theory has emphasized one of the least studied and examined parts of the field.
Continue Reading→Interview with Leon Fuerth
This post continues the series of interviews I performed during my dissertation research on Agent-Based Modeling, intelligence analysis and policy-making. My interview with Leon Fuerth was the first in the series, and provided me several insights that shaped my research and subsequent interviews (most of which have since been posted already). Importantly, this is one of three final interviews where the subject was not able to review the transcript and provide any clarifying remarks. While I do believe that my write up accurately captured his comments, it is possible that interpretive errors do exist that have not been corrected.
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