Thrilled to have two new publications out!
My article “Technical and cultural barriers to leveraging U.S. intelligence to evaluating national level strategies and plans” was based on interviews and a survey I conducted with senior intelligence and planning officers during 2019. In the paper I argue that a high-speed information environment is forcing policymakers to ask for more frequent updates on the “success” of their strategies. Evaluation would require more interaction between intelligence and strategy planning than is currently the case. The paper reviews evaluation more broadly, discusses the current state of collaboration between intelligence and planners, and introduces the results of a survey and interviews. The paper recommends that intelligence assist planners in discussion of the problem; checking critical assumptions; monitoring baseline indicators; and developing new methodologies in artificial intelligence. The editors at Intelligence and National Security provided me with substantial critiques and helped me to craft a quality product!
Thurston, C. Q. (2025). Technical and cultural barriers to leveraging U.S. intelligence to evaluate national level strategies and plans. Intelligence and National Security, 1–22. https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2025.2466265
The second publication is a book chapter on teaching IR theory to working adults. It is included in a much larger handbook on teaching international relations. I based the chapter on my personal experience teaching both younger and older working adults in PAFF 1005 Introduction to Security Studies. I highlight differences I see in students’ prior learning and access to information technology and discuss how these impact learning and teaching. Prior learning impacts a student’s flexibility of thought. In general (not always), older working adults understand basic security concepts and how theory impacts decision-making, but they often favor Realism as their worldview. Younger working adults may not understand basic security concepts, but they are more open (usually, but not always) to alternative (critical) theories. Younger working adults are less financially stable and therefore often lack the IT access that older students enjoy. Different access to technology requires extra effort in finding alternative learning materials on IR theory.
Thurston, Cathryn Q. (2025) “Teaching Theory to Adult Learners” in The Palgrave Handbook on the Pedagogy of International Relations Theory, edited by Jamie Frueh, Jacqui Ala, Michael Murphy, and Paul Diehl. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-72072-7_9