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This ex-library book is in good condition, with only a few minor issues. It has library stamps on the sides and in the opening and closing pages. The book does not include a dust jacket. A small number of pages have handwritten notes in pencil. The cover has some dents and other cosmetic blemishes, but overall shows signs of light use. The opening pages also have handwriting. This ex-library book is in good condition, with only a few minor issues. It has library stamps on the sides and in the opening and closing pages. The book does not include a dust jacket. A small number of pages have handwritten notes in pencil. The cover has some dents and other cosmetic blemishes, but overall shows signs of light use. The opening pages also have handwriting. See less

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The Threat on the Horizon: An Inside Account of America's Search for Security after the Cold War 1st Edition

by Loch K. Johnson (Author)

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The Aspin-Brown Commission of 1995-1996, led by former U.S. Defense Secretaries Les Aspin and Harold Brown, was a landmark inquiry into the activities of America's secret agencies. The purpose of the commission was to help the Central Intelligence Agency and other organizations in the U.S. intelligence community adapt to the quite different world that had emerged after the end of the Cold War in 1991.

In The Threat on the Horizon, eminent national security scholar Loch K. Johnson, who served as Aspin's assistant, offers a comprehensive insider's account of this inquiry. Based on a close sifting of government documents and media reports, interviews with participants, and, above all, his own eyewitness impressions, Johnson's thorough history offers a unique window onto why the terrorist attacks of 2001 caught the United States by surprise and why the intelligence community failed again in 2002 when it predicted that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. It will be the first published account by an insider of a presidential commission on intelligence--a companion volume to Johnson's acclaimed study of the Church Committee investigation into intelligence in 1975 (A Season of Inquiry). This examination of the Aspin-Brown Commission is an invaluable source for anyone interested in the how the intelligence agencies of the world's most powerful nation struggled to confront new global threats that followed the collapse of the Soviet empire, and why Washington, D.C. was unprepared for the calamities that would soon arise.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Loch Johnson's account of the Aspin-Brown commission will be viewed as a classic in the literature on American government and intelligence studies. His insider story reveals how official Washington thought about intelligence in the years before the 9/11 tragedy and how the commission's work fits into the ongoing effort at intelligence reform. The Threat on the Horizon tells a fascinating tale about a part of government that is generally inaccessible to citizens and scholars alike."--James J. Wirtz, Dean of the School of International Graduate Studies, Naval Postgraduate School

"Loch Johnson's lively first-hand account is a rare behind-the-scenes look at an inquiry into U.S. intelligence. He shows that the answers, and even the questions, are more complicated than most think."--Paul R. Pillar, Professor of Security Studies, Georgetown University

"Making the American intelligence process work has vexed and perplexed policymakers and analysts for decades. Nobody understands the dynamics of intelligence gathering and analysis, and the politics and process of reform, better than Loch Johnson. In The Threat on the Horizon, Johnson provides a compelling inside view of a key reform effort in the 1990s. Johnson is a rare combination of a top-flight scholar and a political and policy insider. This book is an even rarer combination--scholarly depth, insider insight, and readability--that make it a must-read for anyone interested in American security and American politics."--Norm Ornstein, Resident Scholar, The American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research

"The chapters examine Latin America's gap using different disciplinary viewpoints, historical frames of reference, and methodologies, employing clear prose and non-technical language. The essays are accessible to non-specialists in the region and ideal for classroom use, especially given the bibliographic references in the end-notes." -- Political Science Quarterly

Book Description

Eminent national security scholar Loch K. Johnson, who served as Aspin's assistant, offers a comprehensive insider's account of this inquiry.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0199737177
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Oxford University Press; 1st edition (February 9, 2011)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 560 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780199737178
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0199737178
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.89 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 9.48 x 1.67 x 6.43 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,877,941 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #163 in Military Sciences
- #909 in Linguistics (Books)
- #2,321 in Political Intelligence

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This book The Threat on the Horizon: An Inside Account of America's Search for Security after the Cold War offers a detailed account of the creation and workings of the now nearly forgotten Aspin-Brown Commission on Intelligence Reform (1995-1996). Its author, Loch Johnson, is a recognized authority on intelligence issues and was on the Commission's staff. This book is in part the result of a promise Johnson made to the Commission's original head, Les Aspin before his death.

Some would dismiss this book as concerning a forgotten footnote in the history of the U.S. Intelligence Community (IC), but this would be a mistake. This book actually provides a detailed chronicle of the only real effort to introduce comprehensive reform in the IC prior to the 9/11 tragedy. It also explains in some detail why these reforms proved ineffective. Perhaps unintentionally, the book also provides an excellent picture of the structure and culture of the IC principals (CIA, DIA, NGA, and NSA) as well as the National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) immediately after the end Cold War. The problems of the IC principals in the mid-1990's do much to explain the problems that beset them today and offer a cautionary tale about intelligence reform.

The story of this Commission's efforts to seriously reform the IC demonstrates how by its composition and approach the Commission was more or less bound to fail. Its final recommendations were superficial and would have done nothing to change the moribund cultures and direction of the IC principals even if they had actually been enacted. Indeed as occurred with intelligence reforms recommended by the 9/11 Commission Report which were for the most part enacted, their lack of substance would have made them ineffective.

Johnson attributes much of the problems with the Aspin-Brown Commission to the untimely death of Les Aspin in 1995. He has a point; Aspin was willing to invest a good deal of himself in the search for intelligence reform and clearly took the matter very seriously. This attitude was reflected in the way the Commission's Staff went about the detailed work need for the Commission to be effective and in the way Commission itself went about fact gathering. Aspin's successor Harold Brown was as brilliant as Aspin, but clearly did not take the Commission's work as seriously.

By any standards this book is a very important one for those interested in reform of the U.S. Intelligence System and the reasons why such reform has always failed.

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