Abstract:

As part of the wider doctoral research „Reforming the intelligence sector through academic education. Implications for the military higher education”, the paper focuses on the lack of intelligence education as a threat to the national security and also on the Intelligence – University nexus as a critical part of todays Knowledge Society and of the Bologna process to create the EHEA by making academic degree standards&quality assurance standards compatible throughout Europe. Firstly, we will examine the use of Open Source Intelligence OSINT in the academic field and its importance in designing Intelligence Studies curriculum for the Romanian Higher Education. Then, we will argument the need for Intelligence Studies as a new field of intellectual inquiry, scholarly debate and as an academic study program within the fundamental field of study "Political and Social Sciences”, based on the new context of the 21st century: the heightened role of intelligence in international affairs and in its influence upon political agenda setting, decision making and policy making; the preminence of intelligence and security issues in political discourse as well as at the level of public opinion. A key-issue of the paper is about the research and institutional efforts to be made in order to 1.describe the conceptual framework in which intelligence will be studied, considering that Intelligence Studies can support a considerable number of diverse subject areas, and can be accurately described as interdisciplinary; 2.identify the beneficiaries and the potential educational bidders; 3.validate the Intelligence Studies as a new qualification by the ACPART (National authority for establishing and regularly updating the national framework for higher education qualifications).

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