2006/10/01 by Martin Thomas · 6 citations
Social Sciences · Arts and Humanities · #Intelligence, Security, War Strategy #African history and culture studies #Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis #Colonialism #Mandate #State (computer science) #Power (physics) #Indirect rule #Political science #Protectorate #Intelligence analysis #Political economy #Insurgency #Law #Public administration #Sociology #Computer science
paper · doi:10.1080/02684520600957662
published in Intelligence & National Security 21(5), 697-716 (Taylor & Francis)
openalex publication_date 2006/10/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/29
This article addresses fundamental questions about power in colonial states by analysing the role and performance of intelligence agencies in response to internal rebellion. What was the relationship between intelligence agencies and the coercive instruments of imperial power? How far did intelligence-gathering help to maintain state authority? And what role did intelligence agencies play as architects of colonial state formation? These questions are discussed here with reference to two French overseas dependencies that proved especially turbulent in the 1920s: the Moroccan protectorate and the Syrian mandate. It will be suggested that colonial rule in these locations was so heavily dependent on intelligence-gathering that both could be termed ‘intelligence states’.