Intelligence in 2014: Shrinking Budget Cuts, Snowden-Driven ‘Reforms’

[unhappycamper]

http://breakingdefense.com/2014/01/intelligence-in-2014-shrinking-budget-cuts-snowden-driven-reforms/



Intelligence in 2014: Shrinking Budget Cuts, Snowden-Driven ‘Reforms’
By Colin Clark on January 13, 2014 at 3:00 PM

WASHINGTON: Positing the future of intelligence — even for one year – poses unique challenges. First, there’s so much those of on the outside don’t know. Then there’s the simple truth that our enemies and competitors drive so much of intelligence. Since we can’t know with certainty what will happen, it’s difficult to predict what the intelligence community will react to and thus spend money on.

2014 predictions:

The double digit budget cuts that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper outlined in late 2011 are unlikely to stick. With Iran, Syria, North Korea, Iraq and, of course, China playing such large and uncertain roles in the world, policymakers will be loathe to give up access to information and analysis.

Smaller and hosted payloads, still the subject of vibrant discussion in the national security space world after almost a decade, are unlikely to gain much traction. Physics are at work here. Small may be beautiful, but it just can’t do what big can.


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