Vigilance is Not Enough – A History of United States Intelligence

On Wednesday, October 15, the Clements-Strauss Intelligence Studies Project hosted a public book talk on, “Vigilance is Not Enough – A History of United States Intelligence” with author Dr. Mark Lowenthal. Join us in SRH 3.122 at the LBJ School from 12:15pm-1:30pm.

In this book, Mark M. Lowenthal examines the development of U.S. intelligence to explain how and why the United States went from having no intelligence service to speak of to being the world’s predominant intelligence power almost overnight, and he discusses the difficult choices involved in maintaining that dominance in a liberal democracy.

Dr. Mark M. Lowenthal is an adjunct professor at the Nitze School for Advanced International Studies, the Johns Hopkins University.  Dr. Lowenthal’s government service includes Assistant Director of Central Intelligence for Analysis and Production; Vice Chairman for Evaluation on the National Intelligence Council; Staff Director of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; the State Department’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), as both an Office Director and as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State; and Senior Specialist in U.S. Foreign Policy at the Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress. m Dr. Lowenthal has written extensively on intelligence and national security issues, including seven books and over 100 articles or studies. His history of U.S. intelligence, Vigilance Is Not Enough, was published by Yale in  2025. His textbook, Intelligence: From Secrets to Policy (Sage/CQ Press, 10th ed., 2025) has become the standard college and graduate school book on the subject. Previously, Dr. Lowenthal has been on the faculty of Columbia University and the Institut d’etudes de politiques, Paris (Sciences Po, Paris). Dr. Lowenthal received his B.A. from Brooklyn College and his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. He is a recipient of the National Intelligence Distinguished Service Medal. In 1988, Dr. Lowenthal was the Grand Champion on Jeopardy!, the television quiz show.