Sociological intelligence
Encyclopedia
Sociological intelligence is military
or competitive intelligence
concerning the social stratification
, value systems, and group dynamics of a population.
Sociological intelligence is useful to a military intelligence system because sociological
concepts are key to understanding a region's stability, military capability, and foreign policy. The importance of sociological intelligence has been demonstrated most prominently in recent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Africa, Russia, and the Middle East. The United States' failure to employ sociological intelligence assets was detrimental to dealing with revolutionary Iran, when ignorance and stereotyping of Iranian leadership as "radicals" limited U.S. understanding of the situation.
In competitive intelligence
the term is used to describe a field of sociological enquiry into potential markets or business competitors.
Military intelligence
Military intelligence is a military discipline that exploits a number of information collection and analysis approaches to provide guidance and direction to commanders in support of their decisions....
or competitive intelligence
Competitive intelligence
A broad definition of competitive intelligence is the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization.Key...
concerning the social stratification
Social stratification
In sociology the social stratification is a concept of class, involving the "classification of persons into groups based on shared socio-economic conditions ... a relational set of inequalities with economic, social, political and ideological dimensions."...
, value systems, and group dynamics of a population.
Sociological intelligence is useful to a military intelligence system because sociological
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
concepts are key to understanding a region's stability, military capability, and foreign policy. The importance of sociological intelligence has been demonstrated most prominently in recent conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, Africa, Russia, and the Middle East. The United States' failure to employ sociological intelligence assets was detrimental to dealing with revolutionary Iran, when ignorance and stereotyping of Iranian leadership as "radicals" limited U.S. understanding of the situation.
In competitive intelligence
Competitive intelligence
A broad definition of competitive intelligence is the action of defining, gathering, analyzing, and distributing intelligence about products, customers, competitors and any aspect of the environment needed to support executives and managers in making strategic decisions for an organization.Key...
the term is used to describe a field of sociological enquiry into potential markets or business competitors.