Are we headed in the right direction in handling the vast jungle that is the multi-polar digital world, interconnected in ways scarcely imaginable just a few years ago?

This week’s discussion is the last for this course, but by no means the least.
This week’s discussion topic: In your opinion, what is the future of strategic intelligence? Are we headed in the right direction in handling the vast jungle that is the multi-polar digital world, interconnected in ways scarcely imaginable just a few years ago? Can we leverage technology to effectively manage the collection and analytical needs for policymakers, warfighters and homeland security professionals in a “big data” environment? Or are we at risk of forgetting some fundamentals? The Cold War ended three decades ago. 9/11 was two decades ago. The Cold War involved Great Power conflict. After 9/11, the Global War on Terrorism focused on counter-terrorism and counter-insurgency. Today, China and Russia are called major threats, while terrorism is sometimes treated as passé, as no longer fashionable. In the 2020s, which began with a Pandemic, are we proficient in the wrong types of analysis and skills?
You will do a total of three (3) posts: the initial post based on the prompt and then interact with two (2) students or one (1) student plus answer the instructor’s follow-up question if there is one. More posts are encouraged.
Please do your initial post by Thursday and subsequent posts by Sunday each week. Your initial post should be at least 250 words. Your follow-on posts (at least two of them) should be at least 150 words. You may challenge, support, or supplement another student’s answer using the terms, concepts and theories from the required readings. Consider this an electronic discussion. Don’t be afraid to challenge your classmates’ work (but not your classmates, personally) — because at this academic level, this should be part of your analysis process.
You will follow the Chicago Style as the sole citation and reference style used in written work submitted as part of this course. The Chicago Manual of Style, 17th ed. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2017 is available online. The Author-Date system is recommended.
Other sources (if used at all) must be subordinate to your understanding of the readings presented in the course.

Last Completed Projects