A View of a Turbulent World from the Driver's Seat

摘要

At the end of the Cold War, Americans were ready for a well-deserved peace dividend, which prompted the William J. Clinton administration to devise a plan to reduce defense spending while preserving military capabilities. The administration, led by Vice President Al Gore, increasingly engaged the commercial sector by using private "contractors" to undertake tasks and responsibilities traditionally performed by military officers and defense civilians-including, for example, combat-related missions, managerial and administrative functions, as well as intelligence roles. On the same note, the multifarious security context since the fall of the Iron Curtain has challenged the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC) several times, starting with the terrorist attacks on 11 September 2001 (9/11), while also bringing about a series of organizational and functional transformations within the IC-of which the most notable is the creation of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence in 2005.