Abram Shulsky

Abram Shulsky is a noted U.S. government intelligence analyst, serving most recently as Director of the Office of Special Plans, heading its Iranian Directorate.

Background

Shulsky earned his doctorate University of Chicago in 1972, and was a student of political philosopher Leo Strauss.

Worldview

Shulsky wrote, in a book coauthored with the American Enterprise Institute's Gary Schmitt, called "Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence" that "truth is not the goal" of intelligence operations, but "victory", which coincides with a Straussian view of the use and handling of knowledge.

In a 1999 paper, “Leo Strauss and the World of Intelligence,” also co-authored by Schmitt, Shulsky writes that “Strauss's view certainly alerts one to the possibility that political life may be closely linked to deception. Indeed, it suggests that deception is the norm in political life, and the hope, to say nothing of the expectation, of establishing a politics that can dispense with it is the exception.” [cite web
author = Daniel Schulman
date = 2006-10-06
publisher = Mother Jones
title = Meet the "Whack Iran" Lobby
url = http://www.motherjones.com/news/update/2006/09/iran.html]

Publications by Abram Shulsky

* "The United States and Asia: Toward a New U.S. Strategy and Force Posture", Project Air Force Report with Zalmay Khalilzad and David T. Orletsky (Rand Corporation, 2001).
* "Deterrence Theory and Chinese Behavior" (Rand, 2000).
* "Patterns in China's Use of Force: Evidence from History and Doctrinal Writings with Mark Burles" (Rand, 2000).
* "The US and a Rising China: Strategies and Military Implications" with Zalmay M. Khalilzad, Daniel L. Byman, Roger Cliff, David T. Orletsky, David Shlapak, and Ashley J. Tellis (Rand, 1999).
* T"he "Virtual Corporation" and Army Organization" with Francis Fukuyama (Rand Corporation, 1997).
* "Preparing the U.S. Air Force for Military Operations Other Than War", Rand Corporation, 1997, with Vick Alan and John Stillion
* "Silent Warfare: Understanding the World of Intelligence" (1991), with Gary J. Schmitt.

References