Call for Papers: Special Issue on Private Sector Intelligence

Guest Editors: Maria Robson-Morrow (Harvard University), Lewis Sage-Passant (Sciences Po Paris), and Angela Lewis (Georgetown University)?

This special issue of the journal Intelligence and National Security will present a collection of scholarly and practitioner work on the private sector’s security intelligence capabilities. This topic has been largely overlooked by intelligence studies in favor of a focus on state- and secrecy-centric definitions of intelligence, which typically lead to the term “private sector intelligence” being associated with government contractors. Despite this, the use of intelligence by and for corporations for their own strategic, security, and operational purposes represents a fundamental shift in our understanding of intelligence power. When private corporations - energy firms, banks, airlines, movie studios - conduct intelligence operations as part of their corporate security activities, they fundamentally challenge the orthodoxy of contemporary intelligence studies by challenging assumptions of a state monopoly on intelligence power, and this special issue seeks to examine this fascinating dynamic.?

The topics we are looking to cover include:

1.????? The academic and theoretical placement of private sector security/risk intelligence

2.????? The operating methodology of these private sector intelligence teams

3.????? The ethical orientation and risks associated with the field

4.????? The history of the field

5.????? The role of specialty areas in security intelligence, such as cybersecurity intelligence

6.????? The evolution of the field, and the role of security intelligence teams in driving geopolitical strategy within corporations

We are seeking original perspectives from both scholars and practitioners on the field of private sector security intelligence. Submissions should provide insights of value for the wider intelligence studies field. Academic citations are needed. All papers will undergo rigorous double-blind peer review. Papers can range from 7,000-10,000 words including captions and references, and should follow the Intelligence and National Security formatting guidelines at https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=fint20.

For consideration, please submit a 300 word abstract by 1 July 2024 to the guest editors at [email protected].??

Abstracts should include the topic, core argument, any context as to the existing scholarship which this article will speak to or build on, and the research or evidence that the author(s) will draw on in the article. Co-authored articles are accepted.?

The guest editors will contact all individuals who submitted abstracts and will advise whether they have been approved to continue to a full article. For those that are accepted, completed papers for review will be due by 15 December 2024. Interested authors with any questions regarding submission requirements can reach out to the guest editors at [email protected].

Intelligence and National Security is the premier academic journal on intelligence related subjects, published by Taylor & Francis with details here: https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/fint20

Please note that competitive/market intelligence is not considered within scope for this call for papers, unless a link to the field of security intelligence can be demonstrated. To situate potential contributions within the existing literature in this field, please note the following examples, which are by no means exhaustive.

·???????? Ard, M.A. (2022). Lessons Learned for the Private Sector Intelligence Analyst. In A.R. Martin & N.K. Drumhiller (Eds.), The academic-practitioner divide in intelligence studies (pp. 129-145). Rowman & Littlefield.

·???????? Fahey, L., & Herring, J. (2007). Intelligence Teams. Strategy & Leadership, 35(1), 13-20. https://doi.org/10.1108/10878570710717245.

·???????? Kolbe, P. 2018. “A CEO’s Brief Guide to Intelligence.”?The Cipher Brief, March 9.?https://www.thecipherbrief.com/ceos-brief-guide-intelligence-not-just-three-letter-agencies.

·???????? Kolbe, P., & Robson-Morrow, M. (2022, March 11).?How corporate intelligence teams help businesses manage risk. Harvard Business Review. https://hbr.org/2022/01/how-corporate-intelligence-teams-help-businesses-manage-risk?

·???????? Lewis, Angela (2022). Thriving in a VUCA World: A Case Study Exploring Geopolitically- Focused Intelligence Teams in the Private Sector Through a Systems Theory Lens.?Theses and Dissertations. 1257. https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/etd/1257

·???????? Matey, G.D. (2013). The use of intelligence in the private sector. International Journal of Intelligence and Counterintelligence, 26(21), 272-287. https://doi.org/10.1080/08850607.2013.732448

·???????? Robson Morrow, M. A. (2022). Private Sector Intelligence: On The long path of professionalization.?Intelligence and National Security,?37(3), 402–420. https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2022.2029099

·???????? Sage-Passant, Lewis (2023). The security intelligence services of the private sector. Loughborough University. Thesis. https://doi.org/10.26174/thesis.lboro.24050421.v1