NatSec Fieldwork

• In Event: Multi-Method Tools for Data Security in Political Science Research

Abstract

International security and policy researchers are routinely motivated to speak to live national security issues and problems ranging from great and regional power competition, nuclear strategy, counterterrorism and covert action, and national security bureaucratic politics. A promising way to address questions in these areas involves use of novel and often highly sensitive data on national security policies and their effects. This paper calls the exercise of collecting and using such data as “NatSec Fieldwork.” This paper examines NatSec Fieldwork by first conceptualizing it, distinguishing it from open-sourced research and sub-national conflict fieldwork. Next it asks three questions for the practice of NatSec Fieldwork: What are some of the key types and avenues of data of interest (sources)? How can researchers collect this data (methods)? What are the main issues and trade-offs in this kind of data collection (pitfalls)? The paper reviews three works illustrating the sources, methods, and pitfalls in NatSec Fieldwork: Amy Zegart’s book Spying Blind: The CIA, the FBI, and the Origins of 9/11, Stephen Biddle, Jeffrey A. Friedman, and Jacob N. Shapiro’s work on the Iraq Surge, and the author’s own work on US counterterrorism operations. This analysis contributes to the methodological literature for the design of international and national security relevant research.

Author

• Asfandyar Ali Mir, Stanford University