Why does intelligence fail?

Intelligence analysis is a tricky job, and failure can have devastating consequences. Since the October 7th attacks by Hamas in Israel, this issue has become more acute as experts wonder how Hamas was able to manage such a sophisticated operation undetected by Israeli intelligence. But this is not the only example of intelligence failure. In this week's episode, we are joined once again by the former Acting Director of the CIA, John McLaughlin, to discuss the difficulties of intel collection and analysis—and how addressing these challenges requires both fighting and embracing human nature.To read more about historical examples of intelligence failure and how they may apply to the situation in Israel, check out Prof. McLaughlin's recent article in The Cipher Brief:https://www.thecipherbrief.com/why-did-israeli-intelligence-fail-history-suggests-many-causes