Shadow Government

A front-row seat to the Republicans' debate over foreign policy, including their critique of the Biden administration.

If not waging war on the Soviets, then what?

By Christian Brose President-elect Obama’s pick of Leon Panetta for Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) has kicked up a lot of dust about the merits of appointing an "intel outsider" to that post, instead of a career intelligence professional. My colleague Josh Keating has a good overview of the strange bedfellows now aligning over this ...

By Christian Brose

President-elect Obama’s pick of Leon Panetta for Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) has kicked up a lot of dust about the merits of appointing an "intel outsider" to that post, instead of a career intelligence professional. My colleague Josh Keating has a good overview of the strange bedfellows now aligning over this issue. This brought to mind what one intelligence professional turned DCI (Robert Gates) had to say about his old "intel outsider" boss at Langley:

What truly set Bill Casey apart from his predecessors and successors as DCI was that he had not come to CIA with the purpose of making it better, managing it more effectively, reforming it, or improving the quality of intelligence. What I realized only years later was that Bill Casey came to CIA primarily to wage war against the Soviet Union.

So instead of focusing, as so much commentary now is, on how Panetta will relate to the career service, how he will work with Congress, and whether he will clamp down on detention and interrogation practices — all of which are essentially management issues — maybe we should be asking what strategic policy goal (or goals) Panetta should be heading to the CIA to pursue.

I’m told that "wage war against the Soviet Union" is out.

Christian Brose is a senior editor at Foreign Policy. He served as chief speechwriter and policy advisor for U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice from 2005 to 2008, and as speechwriter for former U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell from 2004 to 2005.

More from Foreign Policy

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping give a toast during a reception following their talks at the Kremlin in Moscow on March 21.

Can Russia Get Used to Being China’s Little Brother?

The power dynamic between Beijing and Moscow has switched dramatically.

Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.
Xi and Putin shake hands while carrying red folders.

Xi and Putin Have the Most Consequential Undeclared Alliance in the World

It’s become more important than Washington’s official alliances today.

Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.
Russian President Vladimir Putin greets Kazakh President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev.

It’s a New Great Game. Again.

Across Central Asia, Russia’s brand is tainted by Ukraine, China’s got challenges, and Washington senses another opening.

Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.
Kurdish military officers take part in a graduation ceremony in Erbil, the capital of Iraq’s Kurdistan Region, on Jan. 15.

Iraqi Kurdistan’s House of Cards Is Collapsing

The region once seemed a bright spot in the disorder unleashed by U.S. regime change. Today, things look bleak.