Barry Zulauf
(He was the IC ombudsperson for analytic objectivity during 2018–2021. He recently joined Harvard University’s Belfer Center as a Recanati-Kaplan intelligence fellow)
Copyright: https://www.cia.gov/resources/csi/studies-in-intelligence/volume-65-no-3-september-2021-special-issue/from-a-former-odni-ombudsperson-perspective-safeguarding-objectivity-in-intelligence-analysis - Studies in Intelligence Vol. 65, No. 3 (Extracts, September 2021)
Objectivity in intelligence analysis is a core responsibility up and down the chain, one baked into the IRTPA legislation and detailed in DNI Intelligence Community directives. When intelligence judgments collide with policy preferences, maintaining objectivity depends on formal processes and, sometimes, personal courage. Analytic objectivity is a core ethic for intelligence professionals, something that analysts and managers of analysis are all expected to uphold. It is fundamental to the very idea of speaking truth to power. As DNI Avril Haines said earlier this year, “I want analysis that is not politicized or policy biased. . . . I want you to know that I’m not going to be in any way retaliating against you if you don’t tell me what I want to hear.” Read more