30.01.2025 | Elif GÜLTEKİN KARAHACIOĞLU
This article aims to contribute to the literature by examining intelligence doctrine's conceptual and theoretical foundations through a multidimensional approach, addressing a gap in this field. The term "doctrine," which translates into Turkish as "öğreti" (teaching), differs from the concepts of strategy and theory in terms of scope, focus, applicability, and purpose. In this context, intelligence doctrine refers to the principles, policies, rules, procedures, and methods that guide intelligence collection, analysis, and dissemination. The ever-changing and evolving dynamics of experience, theory, and technology influence countries' intelligence doctrines. An intelligence doctrine of a country can be in written form, or it may be embedded within legal texts, institutional reports, customs and traditions, operational practices, and leadership statements. The three fundamental pillars that constitute intelligence doctrine are institutional experience shaped through historical processes, intelligence culture, and the structural organization of intelligence. Intelligence is too field-oriented to be confined to generalizations or theories universally applicable to all countries. Therefore, establishing an intelligence doctrine within a single theoretical framework is challenging. However, constructivism, which asserts that "the material world and the meanings we assign to it are constructed by mental factors" alongside material elements, has emerged as an influential approach in intelligence studies since the late 1980s. When evaluating the relationship between constructivist thought and the concept of intelligence doctrine, a framework emphasizing the roles of social structure, rules, institutions, and agents comes into view. These four elements constantly interact, possessing the capacity to change and transform one another. Furthermore, constructivism enables the discussion of how social realities, such as identity, interests, threat perception, culture, anarchy, and security, play roles in shaping intelligence practices.
Gültekin Karahacıoğlu, E. (2025). Conceptual and Theoretical Foundations of Intelligence Doctrine. Journal of Intelligence Research and Studies, 4(1), pp.38-69, DOI: 10.61314/icad.1588811