Intelligence reform commissions and the producer - consumer relationship

What is it about?

Since 1949 intelligence reform efforts have resulted in extensive studies on every aspect of the intelligence community. One common aspect of commission comment has been how policy makers interact with the intelligence products, commonly known as the producer-consumer relationship. Decades of successive commissions identify the same or similar problems with the relationship and recommend organizational changes aimed at improving the analyst – policy interaction. Eventually the same issues arise because most structural reforms are incapable of addressing critical aspects of this relationship. Future efforts should first consider previous commission results as well as understand what reforms can and cannot impact this relationship.

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Why is it important?

Improvements to the U.S. intelligence capability are critical to ensuring accurate, cogent, and timely support to policy making. It is an evolutionary process that is best realized when reform efforts conducted by the consumers of intelligence are focused and informed.