The book is the result of work by the Sam Nunn Security Fellows Program (SNSP). The authors of the volume include two Nunn School Ph.D. students, recently graduated Jon Schmid, who wrote a chapter on “Intelligence Innovation: Sputnik, the Soviet Threat, and Innovation in the U.S. Intelligence Community,” and current doctoral student Supraja Sudharsan, who authored the chapter on “Organizational Process, Leadership, and Technology for Intelligence Gathering: Development of Photo-Reconnaissance Satellites in the United States.” Other students from the Ivan Allen College include PhD students in Public Policy: Jenna McGrath , who wrote a chapter on “Exploring the Contributing Factors Associated with Intelligence Failures During the Cold War” and Anmol Soni who co-authored a chapter on the “Promise and Perils of Big Data Science for Intelligence Community.” Alaina Totten, Ph.D. student in Economics authored the books introduction with Kosal.

Reflecting the cross-Institute nature of the SNSP, student-authored chapters are from the Ivan Allen College (Public Policy and Economics), College of Engineering (Industrial and Systems Engineering, Nuclear and Radiological Engineering, Aerospace Engineering, and Mechanical Engineering), College of Sciences (Physics and Chemistry), and the Georgia Tech Research Institute.

The SNSP fellowship is a year-long intensive and interdisciplinary program that prepares engineers, scientists, and other technically-educated individuals to develop and implement policy options to help solve problems of national and international importance. It seeks to advance the role of scientific and technical advice on issues of international security through education, research, outreach activities, and participation in the policy advisement process.