All entries by this author

The Atlantic Community - an Online Think Tank

Mär 11th, 2009 | By admin | Category: General, Political Intelligence

Recently I became a member of The Atlantic Community, a not-for-profit initiative based in Berlin and Washington, D.C. Apart from being an excellent source for political analyses the website provides the opportunity to join transatlantic debates on key issues of international politics and globalization.
I strongly recommend to take a look at the different features of [...]



Three reasons to distrust major media or: Where deadlines meet speeding fines

Feb 12th, 2009 | By admin | Category: European Insights, General, Tradespotting

Sometimes it’s just funny what happens when checking facts is a mere luxury. You may use this story as a good example for staying suspicious when it comes to secondary research based on open sources. And this is how it goes:
Last weekend the German Minster for Economic Affairs stepped down, and a new one was [...]



Competitive Stupidity: Infallible Pope meets Intelligence Failures

Feb 3rd, 2009 | By admin | Category: Competitive Stupidity, General

Imagine you were the leader of an organization that is a spin-off of a current competitor. That competitor would have had to suffer hard in the past because your organization had violated basic rules you both share. Imagine that the only power you had is the power of words. Imagine that the most important asset [...]



CI, ethics and consequences in France

Jan 30th, 2009 | By admin | Category: European Insights, General, Public perception

“Only ethics can save CI profession in France and elsewhere in the world.”
Guy Gweth wrote a very interesting posting I just discovered citing some recent scandals in France where ethical and legal boundaries have been crossed. Now the French government plans to “asepticize the sector” by some certain measures, as Guy reports:
1- Obligatory licence for [...]



Julia Roberts movie on intelligence matters - coming next

Jan 27th, 2009 | By admin | Category: General, Public perception

“Duplicity” with Julia Roberts and Clive Owen will be on the big screen in March this year. Ex-CIA and Ex-MI6 working for competing companies fall in love, get in trouble and end happy (it’s a Hollywood movie, isn’t it?).
I guess the film will have two effects on our profession: finally, we won’t have to repeat [...]



Obamatrix: Taking the Red Pill

Jan 23rd, 2009 | By admin | Category: General

The man is in office for only three days now, but - what a relief: substance and style differ drastically not only from his predecessor but from the common image of a typical politician as well. Barack Obama transforms the rules of the political leadership game by taking the red pill - to speak in [...]



Open Source Intelligence makes a difference!

Jan 16th, 2009 | By admin | Category: General

“One irony of working the open source side of the intelligence business is that the better we do, the less we can talk about it.”
Says Michael Hayden, departing CIA chief, on the growing importance of open source intelligence in the area of national security.
At the same time he confirms my assumption why Competitive Intelligence is [...]