Quest for Absolute Security or Another City

Quest for Absolute Security: The Failed Relations Among U.S. Intelligence Agencies

Author: Athan Theoharis

In its 2004 report on 9/11, the Kean Commission criticized U.S. intelligence for having failed to anticipate the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington. Basing its findings on the premise of absolute security, the commission faulted the FBI for not adopting a creative and aggressive approach to the terrorist threat, and both the FBI and the CIA for their inadequate cooperation. But, says distinguished historian Athan Theoharis in his new book, absolute security is an illusory quest that is certain to nurture disappointment-and worse. His compelling analysis traces the troubled history of relations among American intelligence agencies and points out the historical myopia that characterizes the Kean Commission's findings and recommendations.

Political Science Quarterly

Provides expert history as an important context for understanding the lead-up to current debates and controversies on how to organize, operate, and protect homeland security in the wake of September 11.

Kirkus Reviews

Award-winning FBI historian Theoharis (The FBI and American Democracy, 2004, etc.) brings a unique perspective to the question of how and why the intelligence community failed to uncover the 9/11 terrorists and prevent the attack. His balanced, meticulously researched history begins in 1882, when the Office of Naval Intelligence was established. Theoharis describes the proliferation of intelligence agencies over the 100 years since the formation of the FBI in 1908, but dismisses this as a principal cause of the 9/11 failure. Instead, he blames the intelligence community's cult of excessive secrecy, which he attributes to their attempt "to shape the political culture" by focusing more on extralegal political subversion than on potential criminal activities. He describes how this attitude was abetted by the willingness of presidents from FDR on to empower the extralegal activities of the FBI-and later the CIA and NSA-by using secret executive authorizations to bypass congressional oversight. He disagrees with many of the conclusions of the National Commission on Terrorist Acts, which in 2004 cited deficiencies in information-sharing as the primary reason for the intelligence breakdown prior to 9/11. Theoharis also disagrees with the commission's recommendation that oversight be centralized in the executive branch, calling for more congressional oversight rather than less. Using the intelligence services to consolidate their own power has been a prime objective of many presidents, he contends, and it has led to significant intelligence failures and constitutional abuses. An important, provocative book, sure to be widely discussed.

What People Are Saying

John Prados
"The Quest for Absolute Security shows anew his mastery of the Bureau's history."

Geoffrey R. Stone
"Convincingly demonstrates the dangers to liberty inherent in the...authority over intelligence activities and the need for aggressive congressional oversight."--(Geoffrey R. Stone, author of War and Liberty: An American Dilemma)

Nadine Strossen
"Theoharis's compelling and timely book showcases the history of civil liberties in our society....a penetrating, persuasive assessment."--(Nadine Strossen, president of the American Civil Liberties Union, and professor of law at New York Law School)

Table of Contents:

Acknowledgments     vii
Introduction     3
The Origins of U.S. Intelligence, 1882-1919     11
A Period of Transition, 1919-1936     28
The Origins of the National Security State, 1936-1945: Part I, Domestic Intelligence     46
The Origins of the National Security State, 1940-1945: Part II, Foreign Intelligence     82
Bureaucracy and Centralization, 1945-1952     99
Secrecy and the Loss of Accountability, 1952-1965     131
The Breakdown of the Cold War Consensus, 1965-1978     170
Reaffirmation of the National Security State, 1979-2005     221
Hopes and Realities     262
Notes     269
Index     294

Book about: One Dish Meals from Popular Cuisines or Six Plates Over Texas

Another City: Urban Life and Urban Spaces in the New American Republic

Author: Dell Upton

In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, burgeoning American cities like New Orleans and Philadelphia seemed increasingly chaotic. Noise, odors, and a feverish level of activity on the streets threatened to overwhelm the senses. Growing populations placed new demands on every aspect of the urban landscape—streets, parks, schools, asylums, cemeteries, markets, waterfronts, and more. In this unique exploration of the early history of urban architecture and design, leading architectural historian Dell Upton reveals the fascinating confluence of sociological, cultural, and psychological factors that shaped American cities in the antebellum years.

 

Through contemporary travel accounts, diaries, and correspondence, as well as maps, architectural drawings, paintings, and prints—many previously unpublished—Upton investigates not only how buildings were designed, streets were laid out, and urban space was put to use, but also why. He offers original insights into the way cities were imagined, and an extensive selection of illustrations recreates the various features of the urban landscape in the nineteenth century.