Political Science
James B. Bruce, Ph.D., is a Senior Political Scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he leads research projects for U.S. government clients. He retired from the CIA as a senior executive officer at the end of 2005 after nearly 24 years. In the National Intelligence Council, he served as Deputy National Intelligence Officer for Science and Technology and as Vice Chairman of the DCI (now DNI) Foreign Denial and Deception Committee. He has held analytic and management positions in the CIA’s Directorates of Analysis and Operations, including Chief of Counterintelligence Training. He also served as a senior staff member on the President’s Commission on Weapons of Mass Destruction that examined the intelligence failure on Iraq. He authored numerous classified studies, including National Intelligence Estimates. His unclassified publications have appeared in professional journals and anthologies. He co-edited, with Roger George, “Analyzing Intelligence: National Security Practitioners’ Perspectives,” 2nd ed. (Georgetown University Press, 2014). A 25-year Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, he also taught courses previously at Columbia and American Universities and as a faculty member at the National War College. He received his Ph.D. from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies, University of Denver. A member of the board of directors of the Association of Former Intelligence Officers, he is also a U.S. Navy veteran.
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Secrecy and Transparency in Government
Much of what the U.S. government does in national
security — especially in intelligence, military affairs and
diplomacy — is done secretly. Do we really need all that
secrecy? A persistent criticism of government is that there is
too much secrecy, too many secrets. Critics, especially in the
media, call for greater openness and transparency. Many
argue that excessive secrecy impairs government
accountability and justifies whistleblowers who also blow
secrets. One counterweight to secrecy is leaking classified
information to the press. From the Vietnam-era Pentagon
Papers to Edward Snowden’s massive top secret disclosures
on Wikileaks, some opponents of secrets reveal them to the
public without the government’s permission. A tiny few
have gone to jail for it, but most aren’t caught or prosecuted
for violating the law. Spies steal secrets to give them to
foreign governments. Between spies and leakers, the secrecy
system is under assault.
This lecture examines the present secrecy system in the
United States as it evolved since the post-World War II
period and addresses the following questions:
- Why do we have so much secrecy, and do we really need it?
- Shouldn’t we just have less of it?
- What is the legal basis for keeping secrets, and what are the penalties for illegally disclosing them?
- Why do people steal classified information and leak it to the press, or secretly provide it to foreign governments?
- How can we improve the system to have fewer secrets and still protect what really needs to be protected?
This lecture will examine the key issues that bear on the
conduct of secrecy in the United States and explore ways to
improve how we can both keep necessary secrets and also
achieve better transparency in the Information Age.
Register Early! There is a $5 charge for registering on the day of a one-time lecture or event.
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| Course # S1M2 — One Time Event
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| Place: | Auditorium, Lifelong Learning Complex, Jupiter Campus |
| Dates: | Monday, March 19 2018 |
| Time: | 2:15 - 3:45 PM |
| Fee: | $25 / member; $35 / non-member |
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