It Is Time to Transform, Not Reform, US Intelligence

Intelligence reform has traditionally been the purview of those outside of the Intelligence Community. Many insiders would argue that intelligence reform efforts have resulted in more regulation and bureaucracy and little, if any, improvement in intelligence performance. To address the challenges that the United States will face in the future, it needs to look forward to transforming intelligence, not backwards at reforming it. The transformation of intelligence, however, will require a three-way partnership among external catalysts who bring new ideas to the table, legislative overseers who support new ideas through funding and legislation, and internal supporters who evaluate and then implement change.