This year, as one of my major projects for my Introduction to Intelligence class, I chose to research the Intelligence Community of Europe and the main challenges it faces both internally and externally. First, I researched the different levels of the Intelligence Community and how information becomes intelligence that countries and law enforcement are able to use. I learned a lot about the differences between the ways Europe and the U.S. respond to issues within Europe. I also learned about how the intelligence community is affected by budget and other internal regulations imposed by government.
This project was important to my college career because it was assigned in the style of an intelligence report. According to my professor, this is a short, more general form of what intelligence analysts do and the reports they provide to people like the president. This is what I would like to do in the future, so it was eye opening to have the process taught by someone who has practiced it and then go through the motions myself. Obviously, and unfortunately, I did not have access to the information t0 which analysts have access, but I was still able to go through the motions of putting together a portfolio of information regarding the Intelligence Community in Europe. The below attachment is one part of the portfolio: the overview.