ChinaTalk

The CIA’s China Capabilities

Mar 13, 2023

Dennis Wilder, a seasoned CIA veteran focused on China, shares his insights on U.S. intelligence strategies. He emphasizes the need for hiring staff with firsthand experience in China to improve analysis. Wilder discusses the importance of reinstating the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service for deeper insights into Chinese policies. He also highlights the establishment of China House and the CIA's China Mission Center. Notably, he draws lessons from the overlooked expertise of Raymond P. Ludden, advocating for a revised approach to facing modern geopolitical challenges.

40:57

Episode guests

Dennis Wilder

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

4min

Navigating U.S.-China Intelligence Complexities

21min

Navigating Military Experience in Geopolitical Tensions

4min

Lessons from Raymond Ludden: Expertise and Ignored Intelligence

4min

Navigating the Analyst-Policymaker Dynamic

3min

The Desires of the Heart

3min

Dennis Wilder returns to ChinaTalk — this time with some broader thoughts on how the US intelligence community can rise to the occasion vis-à-vis China. In particular, we discuss:

The importance of government hiring those with experience living in China;
Contributions that the Foreign Broadcast Intelligence Service (FBIS) has made to China intelligence, and why it should be reinstated;
A serious request to make an ChatGPT as good as Alice Miller is at analyzing CCP documents; https://www.hoover.org/sites/default/files/research/docs/clm57-am-final.pdf
Why the State Department has established China House and the CIA has established the China Mission Center;
What we can learn from Richard Danzig’s Driving in the Dark; https://www.cnas.org/publications/reports/driving-in-the-dark-ten-propositions-about-prediction-and-national-security%C2%A0
How to maintain robust intelligence capabilities in the long-run;
Raymond P. Ludden and the “Dixie Mission” — and why the US needs more Luddens today. https://uschinadialogue.georgetown.edu/essays/we-need-more-luddens

Outro music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6l6vqPUM_FE

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