Sue Gordon

Sue Gordon, former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, shares her insights on the pressing challenges facing the intelligence community. She emphasizes the perils of stagnation, arguing that the real danger lies in ceasing to understand emerging threats. Gordon discusses the complexities of providing tailored briefings to presidents and the need for modernizing intelligence operations amid shifting global dynamics. She advocates for enhancing cyber resilience and fostering collaboration among frontline workers to address vulnerabilities in national security.

Former Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence, Sue Gordon, discusses shifting global power dynamics, cyber defense, and the expanding threat landscape. They explore open source intelligence (OSINT), satellite technology, geospatial intelligence, and the dynamics of coalitions. They also discuss INQTEL, the CIA's technology investment arm, and Sue Gordon's extensive experience at the helm of various CIA departments.

Many questions involving intelligence and Afghanistan have come up in the past few weeks. Did intelligence prepare policymakers for the rapid collapse of the Afghan forces and the Taliban’s taking of the capital? How unusual is it for a CIA director to visit a de facto war zone—in this case, Bill Burns to travel to Kabul to meet with Taliban leaders? What's the context for intelligence sharing with the Taliban? To tackle these issues, David Priess sat down with Sue Gordon, who for two years during the Trump administration was the principal deputy director of national intelligence after decades of service at the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency, and John McLaughlin, who served as the acting director of central intelligence and the deputy director during the George W. Bush presidency, after a career as an analyst, manager and executive in the CIA. Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/lawfare. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.