| The Soviet Union and United States wars in Afghanistan are widely considered disastrous affairs. The involvement of both states in Afghanistan resulted from intelligence systems failures, characterized by issues related to trust that caused a power imbalance between the intelligence community and the decision maker. In this thesis, I examine both the Soviet and American intelligence systems, testing the effectiveness of intelligence production and intelligence consumption. I further analyze the character traits of key members of the intelligence systems, the levels of bureaucracy, and the relationship between the intelligence community and decision makers, emphasizing an analysis of the levels of trust. I conclude that these two case studies represent instances when intelligence systems failed because decision makers placed too much or too little trust in the intelligence community. |
