US/Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research

US/Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research  (US/Assistant Secretary of State)
Start	October 10, 1957
Website	https://www.state.gov/s/inr/
Senior US diplomatic job, many deep state actors have had it. Coordinates between the Department of State and the intelligence services to ensure that intelligence activities — collection and operations — support and are informed by foreign policy.

The Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research is the head of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR) within the United States Department of State. Before 1986, the head of INR was the Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. The Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research reports to the United States Deputy Secretary of State.

Drawing on all-source intelligence, INR provides value-added independent analysis of events to U.S. State Department policymakers; INR coordinates between the Department of State and the intelligence services to ensure that intelligence activities— collection and operations — support and are informed by foreign policy.

INR is a bureau of the Department of State and a member of the Intelligence Community (IC). The Bureau of Intelligence and Research’s (INR) primary mission is to harness intelligence to serve U.S. diplomacy. Secretary of State George Marshall established INR in 1947. INR is a direct descendant of the Office of Strategic Services Research Department and the oldest civilian intelligence element in the U.S. Government.

Missions

Drawing on all-source intelligence, INR provides value-added independent analysis of events to U.S. State Department policymakers; ensures that intelligence activities support foreign policy and national security purposes; and serves as the focal point in the State Department for ensuring policy review of sensitive counterintelligence and law enforcement activities around the world. The bureau directs the Department’s program of intelligence analysis and research, conducts liaison with the Intelligence Community, and represents the Department on committees and in interagency intelligence groups. The Bureau of Intelligence and Research also analyzes geographical and international boundary issues.

All-Source Analysis

INR is one of three all-source analytical units in the IC. INR analysts focus primarily on supporting diplomats and diplomacy with a wide range of information and analyses. INR participates in the production of joint IC products, usually under the auspices of the National Intelligence Council (NIC), and in the drafting and coordinating of articles for the President’s Daily Briefing (PDB). INR is also the U.S. Government (USG) leader for foreign public opinion research and analysis.

Intelligence Policy and Coordination

INR coordinates between the Department of State and the IC to ensure that intelligence activities—collection and operations—support and are informed by foreign policy. Within the State Department, INR coordinates policy review of sensitive intelligence, counterintelligence, and law enforcement activities to ensure that they are consistent with foreign policy interests. INR also represents the State Department’s interests in the formulation of intelligence policy by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and by other elements of the IC.

Analytic Outreach

INR leads the IC in analytic outreach. INR’s Analytic Exchange Program provides analysts and policymakers with perspectives from hundreds of outside experts from the private sector, academia, and non-governmental organizations on the most challenging foreign policy and intelligence issues. INR also runs INRtalks: an audio-video program that directly engages these experts at the request of policymakers and analysts. INR co-chairs the National Intelligence Analysis Board’s Analytic Outreach Committee, the IC’s principal coordinating body for analytic outreach.

Assistant Secretaries of State for Intelligence and Research, 1986–present

The office of "Director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research" was renamed "Assistant Secretary of State for Intelligence and Research" on August 18, 1986.

Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
Morton I. Abramowitz	February 1, 1985	May 19, 1989	Ronald Reagan
Douglas P. Mulholland	June 9, 1989	January 19, 1993	George H. W. Bush
Toby T. Gati	November 5, 1993	May 31, 1997	Bill Clinton
Phyllis E. Oakley	November 10, 1997	August 2, 1999	Bill Clinton
J. Stapleton Roy	November 19, 1999	January 13, 2001	Bill Clinton
Carl W. Ford Jr.	June 1, 2001	October 3, 2003	George W. Bush
Thomas Fingar	July 22, 2004	June 13, 2005	George W. Bush
Randall M. Fort	November 9, 2006	January 9, 2009	George W. Bush
Philip S. Goldberg	February 9, 2010	February 14, 2014	Barack Obama
Daniel B. Smith	February 14, 2014	2019	Barack Obama Donald Trump
Ellen E. McCarthy	January 22, 2019	January 20, 2021	Donald Trump
Kin Moy (acting)	January 20, 2021	Present	Joe Biden

List of directors of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, 1957–1986

Name	Assumed office	Left office	President served under
Hugh S. Cumming, Jr.	October 10, 1957	February 19, 1961	Dwight D. Eisenhower
Roger Hilsman	February 19, 1961	April 25, 1963	John F. Kennedy
Thomas Lowe Hughes	April 28, 1963	August 25, 1969	John F. Kennedy Lyndon B. Johnson
Ray S. Cline	October 26, 1969	November 24, 1973	Richard Nixon
William G. Hyland	January 21, 1974	November 24, 1975	Richard Nixon Gerald Ford
Harold H. Saunders	December 1, 1975	April 10, 1978	Gerald Ford Jimmy Carter
William G. Bowdler	April 24, 1978	December 17, 1979	Jimmy Carter
Ronald I. Spiers	January 28, 1980	October 4, 1981	Jimmy Carter
Hugh Montgomery	October 19, 1981	January 6, 1985	Ronald Reagan
Morton I. Abramowitz	February 1, 1985	May 19, 1989	Ronald Reagan

 

Office Holders on Wikispooks

Name	From	To
Daniel Smith	14 February 2014	23 October 2018
Philip Goldberg	16 February 2010	21 November 2013
Thomas Fingar	22 July 2004	13 June 2005
J. Stapleton Roy	19 November 1999	13 January 2001
Douglas Mulholland	9 June 1989	19 January 1993
Morton Abramowitz	1 February 1985	19 May 1989

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