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	Fletcher Agency Yona Levin
Original language
English

Spies, Lies, and Algorithms

Amy B. Zegart

The History and Future of American Intelligence

A riveting account of espionage for the digital age, from one of America’s leading intelligence experts.

Spying has never been more ubiquitous—or less understood. The world is drowning in spy movies, TV shows, and novels, but universities offer more courses on rock and roll than on the CIA and there are more congressional experts on powdered milk than espionage. This crisis in intelligence education is distorting public opinion, fueling conspiracy theories, and hurting intelligence policy. In Spies, Lies, and Algorithms, Amy Zegart separates fact from fiction as she offers an engaging and enlightening account of the past, present, and future of American espionage as it faces a revolution driven by digital technology.

Drawing on decades of research and hundreds of interviews with intelligence officials, Zegart provides a history of U.S. espionage, from George Washington’s Revolutionary War spies to today’s spy satellites; examines how fictional spies are influencing real officials; gives an overview of intelligence basics and life inside America’s intelligence agencies; explains the deadly cognitive biases that can mislead analysts; and explores the vexed issues of traitors, covert action, and congressional oversight. Most of all, Zegart describes how technology is empowering new enemies and opportunities, and creating powerful new players, such as private citizens who are successfully tracking nuclear threats using little more than Google Earth. And she shows why cyberspace is, in many ways, the ultimate cloak-and-dagger battleground, where nefarious actors employ deception, subterfuge, and advanced technology for theft, espionage, and information warfare.

A fascinating and revealing account of espionage for the digital age, Spies, Lies, and Algorithms is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the reality of spying today.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:

Amy Zegart is senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University and a contributing writer at The Atlantic. Her books include Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11 (Princeton) and (with Condoleezza Rice) Political Risk: How Businesses and Organizations Can Anticipate Global Insecurity.

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Book Published 2022-02-01 by Princeton University Press

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Korean / Book21
Indonesian / PT Gramedia

Review Issue Date: November 15, 2021
Online Publish Date: October 20, 2021
Publisher:Princeton Univ.
Pages: 416
Price ( Hardcover ): $29.95
Publication Date: February 1, 2022
ISBN ( Hardcover ): 978-0-691-14713-0
Section: NonFiction
Books on American intelligence rarely bring cheerful news. This expert account is no exception, but it’s particularly astute.
A contributing writer at the Atlantic, senior fellow at the Hoover Institution, and author of Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11, Zegart reports that the digital age has made intelligence gathering vastly more difficult. Agencies once concentrated on foreign governments and terrorists. “Today,” writes the author, “they also have to understand American tech giants—and how malign actors can use our own inventions against us.” The National Security Agency, the traditional big data behemoth, faces competition from Google, Facebook, Apple, and Amazon, and Twitter and Facebook have become disinformation highways. Zegart warns that Americans get most of their ideas on intelligence agencies from the movies: Torture always works. Heroes break the law, ignore ethics, and act without mercy against America’s enemies. The author recounts triumphs and debacles but mostly delivers a splendid education in psychology and political science as she explains the role, operation, and limitations of intelligence. Intelligence organizations provide information, never policy, which is politicians’ responsibility, and bad things happen when they forget this. All services gather data, which becomes intelligence only when it is analyzed and used to make predictions. Unfortunately, intelligence predictions are too often wrong, for reasons the author explains in a brilliant section, “The Seven Deadly Biases,” which should be taught in schools along with multiplication tables. According to confirmation bias, humans (not excluding analysts) readily accept facts that confirm what they believe and reject those that contradict it. Readers who assume that catching spies and covert action are straightforward and that Congress keeps an eye on our intelligence services will learn the error of their ways. Zegart’s conclusion offers further unsettling news: In the wireless 21st-century world, espionage, sabotage, and brainwashing are no longer the province of government agencies; nearly anyone with an internet connection can do it.
Disturbing but superbly insightful.

“I relied heavily on Amy Zegart’s pioneering work during my years as Ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, and since. Her new book covers all we know and all we need to do to track evolving threats and new actors equipped with rapidly evolving technology. As she points out, the private sector has most of the tools government desperately needs, and strong leadership is essential to assure that all our capability is leveraged quickly and adroitly.”—Jane Harman, former nine-term Congresswoman, President Emerita at the Wilson Center, and author of Insanity Defense: Why Our Failure to Confront Hard National Security Problems Makes Us Less Safe

“Amy Zegart’s marvelous book is a treasure for both the novice and the expert. Packed with history, insight, and wisdom from three decades of immersion in American intelligence, it provides an A-to-Z tour of this secretive world, and explores the challenges and dilemmas facing the intelligence community today.”—John E. McLaughlin, former deputy director and acting director of the Central Intelligence Agency

“Amy Zegart makes the field of intelligence accessible for all who need to understand it—and today that is everyone who needs to comprehend the present and anticipate the future. She places today’s intelligence organizations in historical context and explains why education is essential for ensuring their future effectiveness. Spies, Lies, and Algorithms is the book to read to begin that education.”—H. R. McMaster, author of Battlegrounds and Dereliction of Duty

“Mixing vivid examples with shrewd analysis, Amy Zegart has written a compelling and provocative account of American spy agencies’ struggles and accomplishments, from exploding seashells and boxes of cash in the early days to drone strikes and cyberattacks in our era. An invaluable guide for practitioners and the public alike.”—Scott Shane, former New York Times national security reporter and author of Objective Troy: A Terrorist, a President, and the Rise of the Drone