Wippl Writes on Human Intelligence for The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence
Professor Joseph W. Wippl contributed a chapter titled “Human Intelligence” to The Oxford Handbook of National Security Intelligence. In the chapter, Wippl explained what purpose human intelligence or espionage (HUMINT) serves, the key actors involved in it including case officers and agents, and processes like agent recruitment, agent handling, and liaising.
Wippl underscored that countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Russia are the only ones with intelligence services that are global in operations. France, Germany, and Japan, on the other hand, possess formidable intelligence capabilities but they are mostly engaged with domestic endeavors instead of international ones.
In the chapter, the professor also talks about motivations for an individual to spy which are typically a combination of reasons—including money, pursuit of ideals, revenge against the system, and desire for adventure. According to him, money is often a biggest motivator but also a great problem in espionage, especially if the agent is in a hostile environment.
“The role of the case officer is to identify an individual’s motivations and then use them to recruit the individual,” said Wippl. “This process takes place through the cultivation of the targeted individual by the case officer, which can take days, years, or even decades.”
Additionally, Wippl elaborated on two key components: agent handling and liaising. The former entails consistently motivating the agent to acquire intel while the latter involves maintaining cooperation between intelligence agencies. Case officers usually start their career by recruiting and handling agents and eventually progress to liaising in overseas locations to exchange vital information with host countries.
Professor Wippl’s full article can be accessed here.
Joseph Wippl, professor of practice of international relations at the Frederick S. Pardee School of Global Studies is a former CIA officer. In his extensive career of 30 years, he has served as an operations officer and operations manager in multiple locations overseas including Guatemala City, Luxembourg, Mexico City and Berlin. Before entering academia, he was the Richard Helms Chair for Intelligence Collection in the NCS training program. To know more about Prof. Wippl, visit his faculty profile.