Hoover Institution fellows Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Kiron Skinner were appointed to the Committee on Behavioral and Social-Science Research to Improve Intelligence Analysis for National Security, an ad hoc panel formed by the National Academies.
The panel was formed to inform and improve the work of the intelligence community. The Office of the Director of National Intelligence requested that the National Research Council, part of the National Academies, convene a panel of experts to synthesize and assess the behavioral and social-science research evidence relevant to (1) critical problems of individual and group judgment and of communication by intelligence analysts and (2) kinds of analytic processes that are employed or have potential to address these problems.
To the extent the evidence warrants, the panel will recommend analytic practices that intelligence analysts should adopt or at least explore further. The panel will also recommend an agenda of research that is needed to better understand the problems analysts face and to establish a base of evidence for current and potential solutions. Finally, the panel will identify impediments to implementing the results of such research, especially new tools, techniques, and other methods, and suggest how their implementation could be more effectively achieved.
Bueno de Mesquita is a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution and the Silver Professor of Politics at New York University. A member of the American Political Science Association, he is also a member of the International Studies Association and the Peace Science Society. Bueno de Mesquita is a member of the board of advisers of the James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy at Rice University and former president of the International Studies Association. He currently serves on the editorial boards of International Studies Quarterly, International Studies Review, International Studies Perspectives, International Interactions, Comparative Political Studies, and other journals. In 2005, Bueno de Mesquita was identified in a survey conducted by Foreign Policy magazine as one of the ten most influential political scientists in the foreign policy arena.
Skinner is the W. Glenn Campbell Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University. She also is an associate professor of international relations and political science at Carnegie Mellon University. Skinner’s government service includes membership on the Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Executive Panel, the U.S. Defense Department’s Defense Policy Board (2001–7), and the National Security Education Board. Skinner is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York City. She has cochaired the CNO task force on the Middle East and the task force on Africa. She also serves on the board of the Atlantic Council of the United States in Washington, D.C.
The National Academies brings together committees of experts in all areas of scientific and technological endeavor. These experts serve pro bono to address critical national issues and give advice to the federal government and the public.
