HHLS 6030 DF7 Initial: Structured Analytic Techniques

HHLS 6030 DF7 INITIAL- structured analytic techniques
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Having read about structured analytic techniques (SATs) in Heuer and in the Tradecraft Primer, identify at least three SATs that you believe would be helpful for your analysis of al Shabaab in North America. For each SAT, provide a brief description of how to use it, and explain why you selected it for your analysis.
Structured analytic techniques (SATs) are tools in intelligence analysis to stimulate thinking to address problems and get solutions. Heuer (2008) highlights that the decomposition and visualization technique is effective to deal with complexity since components are broken down, analyzed and integrated together to get a clear picture of intelligence analysis. The quality of information check is a diagnostic technique where there is assessment of the credibility, sufficiency and critical nature of the information (Primer, 2009). Getting information from lawless Somalia is difficult, but gathering and evaluating information from various sources including Al Shabaab sympathizers is the west would likely yield more facts about the groups support, recruitment and financial support outside Somalia. The US government broadly categorizes SATs as diagnostic, contrarian and imaginative thinking techniques (Primer, 2009). The analysis of competing hypotheses (ACH) where various hypotheses are identified ad systematically evaluated based on evidence and data available to choose the best fitting hypothesis/ hypotheses Primer (2009) & (Artner, Girven & Bruce, 2016). Even as there are large Somali communities in neighboring Kenya, Ethiopia, the countries are more diverse, and Somalis are...