Intelligence Analysis and National Security Decisionmaking In this course we will examine the public record on how US policymakers incorporate intelligence into their national security decisionmaking, including assigning readings from books and news articles. We will discuss challenges of basing national security decisions on incomplete information and the perils of politicizing intelligence to support desired policy outcomes. We will also examine publicly available sources on the intelligence analysis process, including resources such as The Psychology of Intelligence Analysis (Heuer). Students will engage in assignments to identify a potential policy decision, craft a key intelligence question relevant to the decision, apply publicly available information on how to craft an analytic story, and then use publicly available information on how to brief the intelligence analysis during a mock policy meeting.  Phillip Consentino '00 recently retired from the Central Intelligence Agency after more than 25 years in the Directorate of Analysis. Phillip served as a counterterrorism analyst, managed analysis on extremist radicalization, South America, and China, and as the managing editor of the President's Daily Brief.

Phillip Consentino

Reviews and ratings for Phillip Consentino at Middlebury College.Phillip Consentino teaches Intelligence Analysis and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Phillip Consentino good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

This course was great and very engaging. Each class was split up well into lecture time and interactive policy exercises and group work. The class structure helped build critical thinking skills, speaking and concise writing. 

Phillip did a great job teaching this class! He is very passionate about his work, and we were able to be immersed in meetings and the intelligence process. Every Friday, we had a mock policy meeting with our groups where we would have 3 analysts and 3 policy advisors on a crisis we had been following. Highly recommend!