CSIS in the Post-Cold War Era: Domestic and International Constraints on Organizational Change

Abstract

<p>Since the end of the Cold War, the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) has undergone a period of transformative change.1 The experiences of CSIS during this time represent an opportunity for the theoretical examination of the process of organizational change as well as a consideration of the influence of epistemic community theory. With respect to organizational change, it will be shown that CSIS has experienced a profound change in its external environment. Evironmental change has in turn generated subsequent efforts to adapt organizational culture and organizational goals at CSIS. The most critical aspects of the new external changes are the new threats and priorities arising from a new international security environment and the contraction of public fiscal resources throughout the Canadian federal government The resulting reorientation of CSIS is consistent with the model of organizational change presented by Paul Thomas. The post Cold War experience of CSIS is also illustrative of epistemic community theory. The influence of American and British intelligence agencies can be observed in the similarity between CSIS policy and American and British intelligence policy. This similarity is consistent with epistemic community theory, which explains international policy coordination as the produce of transnational expert groups with a common policy agenda and a shared scientific method. The presence of an intelligence epistemic community means that (the post-Cold War adaptation of CSIS is being constrained by domestic and international factors.</p>