Scholars have long viewed intelligence as the preserve of nation states.
Where the term ‘private sector intelligence’ is used, the focus has been overwhelmingly on government contractors.
As such, a crucial aspect of intelligence power has been overlooked: the use of intelligence by corporations to navigate and influence the world.
Where there has been academic scrutiny of the field, it is seen as a
post-9/11 phenomenon, and that a state monopoly of intelligence has been eroded.
Beyond States and Spies demonstrates - through original research - that such a monopoly never existed.
Private sector intelligence is at least as old as the organized intelligence activities of the nation state.
The book offers a comparative examination of private and public intelligence, and makes a compelling case for understanding the dangers posed by unregulated intelligence in private hands.
Overall, this casts new light on a hitherto under investigated
academic space.
360 pages.