Curr Iss Zoom: Intelligence and Security

Intelligence: Roles and Limits
Two Zoom Sessions
Thur., Feb. 6, 13, 2025, 6:30-8:30 pm MT

It’s an unnerving time right now. Consider wars in Europe and the Middle East, rising tensions in East Asia, coups and terrorism across central Africa, piracy and attacks on shipping, cognitive warfare and dis/misinformation, security implications of climate change, narcotics and human trafficking, and transborder issues. What can intelligence, and in a U.S. context, the Intelligence Community (IC) do to help solve these issues? “Intelligence plays an active role in each of these areas, as well as other threats and problems,” says IC veteran Steve Recca.

Join Recca as he reviews how and why intelligence is being applied. Recca examines the IC and its relationship with the president, Congress, the media and the public. He also explores how other countries view and apply intelligence for their national interests. Plus, he surveys the roles and limits of intelligence including how (and what) information is collected, including overt and clandestine activities; counter-intelligence efforts to identify and stop spies; how technology and artificial intelligence are pushing the boundaries across all aspects of the profession; and the application of covert action. As a teaser, Recca explains why the CIA is not the only game in town, and what made Julia Child famous for more than introducing French cooking to the U.S.

Steve Recca is an adjunct professor for the Joseph Korbel School of International Studies at DU and is the executive director of the Center for Human Security at the University of Colorado Colorado Springs. He also serves as the director of the University and Agency Partnership Program for the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security.