Social and Behavioral Sciences for National Security : Proceedings of a Summit

In the coming years, complex domestic and international environments and challenges to national security will continue.

Intelligence analysts and the intelligence community will need access to the appropriate tools and developing knowledge about threats to national security in order to provide the best information to policy makers.

Research and knowledge from the social and behavioral sciences (SBS) can help inform the work of intelligence analysis; however, in the past, bringing important findings from research to bear on the day-to-day work of intelligence analysis has been difficult. In order to understand how knowledge from science can be directed and applied to help the intelligence community fulfill its critical responsibilities, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine will undertake a 2-year survey of the social and behavioral sciences.

To launch this discussion, a summit designed to highlight cutting-edge research and identify future directions for research in a few areas of the social and behavioral sciences was held in October 2016.

This publication summarizes the presentations and discussions from the summit. Table of ContentsFront Matter1 Introduction2 Opening Remarks3 Needs of the Intelligence Community4 First Research Session: Brain and Neuroscience5 Second Research Session: Social Interaction6 Third Research Session: Behavioral Genetics7 Fourth Research Session: Risk and Decision-Making8 Summative RemarksAppendix A: Social and Behavioral Sciences for National Security: ADecadal Survey Statement of TaskAppendix B: Summit Agenda and List of ParticipantsAppendix C: Biographical Sketches of Summit Planning Committee andPresenters