Intelligence Leadership
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Intelligence leadership A research on the influence of Intelligence Leadership in the Netherlands: The Heads of the BVD and AIVD Author: Marijn Adams Student number: 1760653 Date: 29-01-2018 Supervisors: prof. dr. P.H.A.M. Abels & drs. W.J.M. Aerdts Crisis and Security Management Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs Leiden University 2 Foreword This thesis in front of you is the result of four months of hard work. It represents the final work of my study Crisis and Security Management and the end of my time as a student. I studied for over six and a half years, of which I enjoyed every single minute. In these years I was able to develop and enrich myself by making make new friends, be part of several projects, commissions, internships and jobs. After the bachelor public administration in Rotterdam I followed my true interest and started the master Crisis and Security Management in The Hague. I finished the master Public Management in between, and know now that I want to work in the public security domain. I am very happy I choose the intelligence topic for my master thesis, this was a unique chance to research this world that intrigued me for over many years. I was able to speak to interesting people that were involved in this field, the interviews have been a pleasure to do. Several persons have been important throughout my time as a student and in the graduation period, I want to thank them for their help and support. First I want to thank prof. dr. Paul Abels and drs. Willemijn Aerdts for their supervision during the thesis process from the Leiden University. Paul and Willemijn introduced me into the intriguing world of intelligence organizations. I was given the room to conduct my own research and was able to speak to several interesting people involved due to their help. It created the ideal circumstances to finish this thesis within four months. I also want to thank my parents, Camiel, lisanne and Chantal. Thank you for the unconditional support during my study. You believed in me and where there for me, you gave me the extra push whenever I needed it, I appreciate that. I hope that you enjoy reading this thesis! Marijn Adams 3 4 Inhoudsopgave FOREWORD ..................................................................................................................................... 3 ABSTRACT ....................................................................................................................................... 7 1. INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................... 9 1.1 IN LEAD OF THE DUTCH INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATION – A SPECIAL JOB ................................................. 9 1.2 PROBLEM OUTLINE ................................................................................................................... 11 1.3 SUB QUESTIONS ....................................................................................................................... 11 1.4 RELEVANCE ............................................................................................................................. 12 1.4.1 Societal relevance ................................................................................................................ 12 1.4.2 Academic relevance ............................................................................................................. 12 1.5 READING GUIDE ....................................................................................................................... 12 2. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ...................................................................................................... 13 2.1 GENERAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICES ....................................................................................................... 13 2.1.1 Defining intelligence - What is intelligence? ........................................................................ 13 2.1.2 Activities of the general intelligence service - What do they do? ........................................ 14 2.2 LEADERSHIP IN INTELLIGENCE ORGANIZATIONS ............................................................................... 16 2.3 CONCEPTUAL MODEL DRAFT VERSION: ......................................................................................... 20 3. METHODOLOGY ......................................................................................................................... 21 3.1 OPERATIONALIZATION ............................................................................................................... 21 3.2 RESEARCH STRATEGY AND METHODS ............................................................................................ 23 3.2.1 Research strategy ................................................................................................................ 23 3.2.2 Research method: a qualitative research ............................................................................ 23 4 CONTEXT OF THE RESEARCH .................................................................................................. 27 4.1 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE BINNENLANDSE VEILIGHEIDSDIENST (BVD) AND THE ALGEMENE INLICHTINGEN- EN VEILIGHEIDSDIENST (AIVD) ................................................................................................................ 27 5 EMPIRICAL FINDINGS ............................................................................................................ 30 5.1 DIFFERENT HEADS OF THE GENERAL INTELLIGENCE SERVICES (BVD AND AIVD) – PROFILES OF THE HEADS ....... 30 6.ANALYSIS .................................................................................................................................... 66 6.1 INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS ....................................................................................................................... 66 6.2 GENERAL ANALYSIS .......................................................................................................................... 82 6.3 IMPORTANT VARIABLES –FOR FUTURE INTELLIGENCE LEADERS .................................................................. 84 7. CONCLUSION ............................................................................................................................. 87 7.1 BE THE APPROPRIATE HEAD FOR THE TIME FRAME? ............................................................................... 87 7.2 ANSWERING THE CENTRAL RESEARCH QUESTION .................................................................................... 88 8. DISCUSSION .......................................................................................................................... 89 9. RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................ 90 10. APPENDIX ......................................................................................................................... 91 11. BIBLIOGRAPHY .................................................................................................................. 92 5 6 Abstract The leadership role of the Head of the intelligence organization is a unique one. The Heads are responsible for ensuring national security, faced with a complexity of threats, and have to operate in a political environment of stakeholders. The Head of the intelligence organization is the only public ‘face’ and ‘voice’ of their organization. It makes their job one of the most important within their nation, but also one of the least understood, due to the secrecy around it. Leading this type of organization in a democracy seems to require special qualities – it does not have a pre-written manual. The general intelligence organizations in the Netherlands, that are part of this research, started as the Binnenlandse Veiligheidsdienst (BVD) under the lead of Louis Einthoven in 1949, the BVD changed their name into de Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst in 2002 and is currently under the lead of Rob Bertholee. The BVD and AIVD exist for over sixty-five years. The BVD was established in times when the Communist threat was a substantial threat, the AIVD is active in times when the threats are more fragmented and complex. The authorities, focus, execution of tasks and enemies changed, but the main goal of the organization remained the same; ensuring national security in the Netherlands. Different Heads of the BVD and AIVD have used their skills and capacities to lead their organization and to make it develop in the best possible way. An important question arises how the Heads of the BVD and AIVD have governed their organization; what is their influence on the BVD and AIVD? Therefore, this study aims to provide an answer on the following question: “What is the influence of the Heads of the general intelligence services in the Netherlands – BVD and AIVD - on the development of these organizations?”. To give an answer on this research question a qualitative research is conducted. I used the methods of desk research and interviews to generate empiric material about this topic. With this I created a rich analysis, using the theory of Robarge (2010), of the different Heads of the BVD and AIVD. The results generated valuable insights in different patterns, missions, time frames and skills of the Heads of the BVD and AIVD. It gained knowledge in their strategies of leading their organization, in how they managed the internal and external organization. The results show that the Heads have influenced