Intelligence on the Frontier Between State and Civil Society

Intelligence on the Frontier Between State and Civil Society shows how today’s intelligence practices constantly contest the frontiers between normal politics and security politics, and between civil society and the state.

Today’s intelligence services face the difficult task of having to manage the uncertainties associated with new threats by inviting civil actors in to help, while also upholding their own institutional authority and responsibility to act in the interest of the nation. This volume examines three different perspectives: Managerial practices of intelligence collection and communication; the increased use of new forms of data (i.e. of social media information); and the expansion of intelligence practices into new areas of concern, for example cybersecurity and the policing of (mis-)information. This book accurately addresses these three topics, and all chapters shine more light on the inclusion, and exclusion, of civil society in the secret world of intelligence.

By scrutinizing how intelligence services balance the inclusion of civil society in security tasks with the need to uphold their institutional authority, Intelligence on the Frontier Between State and Civil Society will be of great interest to scholars of Security Studies and Intelligence Studies. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of Intelligence and National Security.

Author Biography

Karen Lund Petersen is a Professor (with special responsibilities) at the University of Copenhagen and Director of the Centre for Advanced Security Theory. Her primary research interests are security and risk governance, with a particular focus on political risk, corporate security management and intelligence.

Kira Vrist Rønn is a lecturer at University College Copenhagen, section for Emergency and Risk Management. Her primary research interests are ethical issues related to policing and security.