Shakespeare for Analysts: Literature and Intelligence
Abstract
This paper is an argument and a suggestion. The argument is that what Shakespeare had to say about human behavior in the political and leadership realms is worth reading, and hearing, today. The suggestion is that analysts concerned with understanding the behavior of important individuals leaders, commanders, supporters, family members, enemies, rivals, inner circle members, opposition figures should do so. It is perhaps an "`out of the box" idea; but I would contend that Shakespeare should be part of the canon of intelligence literature, a fundamental addition to the works that intelligence professionals read. More precisely, I see great literature as a potential source of expertise that can be applied to intelligence issues of current interest. I would argue that today's analysts are dominated by two camps of thought, in a fashion akin to the two cultures identified long ago by C.P. Snow science and social science, a focus that left little room for attention to the third culture with which he was most concerned: the humamnes. Although we have people with humanities or literature degrees, we do not use much of what they have learned, except perhaps for their writing skills. At this time, we cannot speak of a humanities based approach to analysis, as we can of functional (science) or regional (social science) approaches.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2003
- Accession Number
- ADA476715
Entities
People
- Jeffrey White
Organizations
- National Intelligence University