Shaping intelligence as a profession in Romania: reforming intelligence education after 1989

Abstract

Intelligence is no longer purely a craft (or “industry knowledge”), which requires practitioners to acquire skills through “practical experiences”; it is as well an “exacting, highly skilled profession”, which requires “specialized knowledge” through “academic training.” Intelligence as a profession possesses formal and structured personnel practices, through rigid entrance requirements (such as minimal graduate educational requirements and formal testing), continuous professionalization programs, an intrinsically established code of ethics, professional associations (such as International Association for Intelligence Education - IAFIE), as well as mechanisms enabling cumulative learning and improvement (including specialized intelligence journals). Intelligence as a profession is practiced by professionals who demonstrate “commitment to a particular body of knowledge and skill both for its own sake and for the use to which it is put”. Their professionalism is directly proportional with their demeanor and performance in their work and is as well reflected in the overall organization’s performance.