Counterintelligence DB4

Reflective Summary: Review and reflect on the Counterintelligence Versus Human Intelligence Discussion Board. Based on your review and reflection of new learnings in this course, write at least 400 words on the following:

During the Cold War, the U.S. counterintelligence (CI) mission was clearly defined: It focused on countering the intelligence collection efforts of the Soviet Union and its allies. However, after the collapse of the Soviet Union and the end of the Cold War, the focus of CI became blurred because of a lack of an identifiable threat. A perception developed throughout the U.S. intelligence community that CI equals human intelligence (HUMINT) collection and that the two disciplines were interchangeable. This, along with an increase in the need for HUMINT to counter emerging threats, further blurred the line between CI and HUMINT. Today, the two disciplines are often grouped together as CI/HUMINT. Some will argue that the grouping together of CI and HUMINT to accomplish the growing HUMINT collection mission has significantly degraded the effectiveness of the CI mission.

• What have you learned from others' responses?
• What were the most compelling points from the interaction with your fellow students?
• How did participating in this discussion help in your understanding of the Discussion Board task?
• What approaches could have yielded additional valuable information in the students' networking?
• What is still unclear after the discussion with your classmates that needs to be clarified?