This paper is part of CATS’ project on intelligence for terrorismand homeland security, sponsored by the Swedish CivilContingencies Agency (MSB). It addresses the use and potentialuse of social media in intelligence – looking across the range ofpossible uses both externally and as collaborative tools within andacross agencies. The first half of the paper lays out four categoriesof intelligence interactions using social media, and then discussesthem briefly, drawing primarily on U.S. experiences. The secondpart of the paper turns more specifically to the mix of new mediaand old at play in conflicts around the world, especially in theMiddle East and Russia/Crimea/Ukraine.
Gregory Treverton is chairman of the U.S. National IntelligenceCouncil. However, this paper was written when he was a Directorof the RAND Corporation’s Center for Global Risk and Security,and a visiting fellow at CATS.
Renanah Miles is a Ph.D. candidate in Political Science atColumbia University and a summer associate at the RANDCorporation. She concentrates in international relations with afocus on security studies and the Middle East. Previously she wasa program analyst in the Office of the Secretary of Defense.