Problematyka wywiadu z perspektywy teorii stosunków międzynarodowych
Intelligence from the perspective of the theory of international relations

Summary/Abstract: There is an ongoing debate among researchers in this field on how intelligence should be defined. Despite a certain consensus at the general level, formulating a uniform opinion in this respect is not an easy task. Definitions vary, however, the majority of them share the idea of ensuring state security and treat intelligence as a sine qua non condition of the state’s relative advantage. Intelligence is strictly connected with structural realism which provides a theoretical explanation of certain key questions in intelligence studies. Structural realism explains also the secrecy of intelligence activity. However, intelligence itself has attracted little attention of international relations scholars. Strategic intelligence is a process whose purpose is to maintain or enhance the existing configuration of powers as well as to provide useful tools for the decision making process. However, it is disputable whether intelligence requires an autonomous theory or whether it should be perceived from the perspective of the international relations theory. Therefore, acknowledging the usefulness of theoretical achievements of structural realism in the explanation of the legitimacy of the establishment and maintenance as well as the effectiveness of intelligence, it is necessary to indicate other problems which could constitute the area of research on intelligence from different theoretical perspectives, not only from the point of view of international relations, but also other scientific disciplines.

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