Resources
The links listed here are included for convenience only. They do not imply endorsement by New Insight Analysis. The content of these sites remain outside the control of New Insight Analysis.
Heuer’s (1999) The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis is often referred to as the ‘bible’ for Intelligence Analysts. It takes a deep dive into the cognitive aspect of the work, and explores ways and means of overcoming problematic thinking. The New Insight Analysis YouTube channel hosts several videos comprising the ‘Dick Heuer Sessions’ series, designed to highlight key messages from Heuer’s masterpiece in a simple, digestible, bitesize fashion.
Heuer, Jr. R.J. (1999). The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis.
[Online]. Virginia: Central Intelligence Agency.
New Insight Analysis (2021). Dick Heuer Sessions.
On a more explicitly practical front, the following guides explore tools and techniques that can help analysts at each stage of the Intelligence Cycle. Two of these originate from the UK’s Ministry of Defence: Quick Wins for Busy Analysts (2016), and the Red Teaming Handbook (3rd Edition) (2021). From the USA, there is the ever popular A Tradecraft Primer: Structured Analytic Techniques for Intelligence Analysis. More recent editions of a similar name to this latter publication do exist for hard copy purchase, but the information included in the 2009 work is timeless.
Ministry of Defence (2016).
Quick Wins for Busy Analysts.
[Online]. Bristol: Ministry of Defence.
Ministry of Defence (2021). Red Teaming Handbook. 3rd Edition.
[Online]. Bristol: Ministry of Defence.
US Government (2009). A Tradecraft Primer: Structured Analytic Techniques for Intelligence Analysis.
[Online].
Crossing the divide between practical guide and an exploration of the profession, is Vandepeer’s (2014) Applied Thinking for Intelligence Analysis. A guide for practitioners. This book is a must read not just for analysts themselves, but for all persons who work with them. For a synopsis of the book and an exploration of its potential uses and value, have a read of my hybrid book review, published in the Security Science Journal (2023).
Tuominen, N. (2023). ‘THE HUMAN FACTOR: A HYBRID BOOK REVIEW OF DR CHARLES VANDEPEER’S Applied Thinking for Intelligence Analysis: A Guide for Practitioners’. Security Science Journal 3(2)
pp.170-177.
Vandepeer, C. (2014) Applied Thinking for Intelligence Analysis. A guide for practitioners.
[Online]. Canberra: Air Power Development Centre.
Last, but by no means least, we have the recently published The Crime Analyst’s Companion, compiled by practitioners and academics from around the world. Uniquely specific to the crime analyst community, rather than the National Security element to which so much literature is oriented, this book offers a wealth of practical information and interesting thought pieces.
