THE CIA DIRECTOR WILLIAM WEBSTER HAS INTRIGUED WESTERN EUROPEAN AND JAPANESE DIPLOMATS IN THE US WITH A SPEECH ON US INTELLIGENCE STRATEGY IN WHICH HE HINTED THAT TRADITIONAL ALLIES WHO ARE ALSO ECONOMIC RIVALS ARE BECOMING INTELLIGENCE TAR

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP99-01448R000401640020-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 29, 2012
• Sequence Number: 20
• Publication Date: September 20, 1989
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/29: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401640020-2
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Martin Walker in Washington -- - M_
The CIA Director William Webster has intrigued Western European
and Japanese diplomats in the US with a speech on US intelligence
strategy in which he hinted that traditional allies who are also
economic rivals are becoming intelligence targets.
"Our political and military allies are also our economic
competitors", Mr Webster warned in an important policy speech to
the World Affairs Council in Los Angeles yesterday.
"The national security implications of a competitor's ability to
create, capture or control markets of the future are very
significant", he went on.
It was the first public analysis by the head of the CIA to
explore the implications of the fading of the Cold War for the
future of US intelligence.
"The intelligence community looks at these developments from a
strategic perspective, examining what is occurring, the forces at
play and the the ways that actions taken abroad can directly and
indirectly affect our national security interests", he added.
The CIA and other US intelligence agencies are shifting their
strategic focus towards global economic issues as the East-West
military confrontation loses its old urgency, the CIA Director
said.
"Intelligence on economic developments and other issues has never
been more important", he said. "Policy-makers are turning to us
for timely and objective assessments on both fast-breaking events
and long term global trends".
The growing integration of the world's financial markets and the
relaxation of exchange controls also pose new national security
risks for the US, he argued. Mr Webster cited the explosive growth
in the numbers of banks, and foreign exchange transactions of $300
billions and more each day as vulnerable areas for US economic
interests.
"For the US, these changes have made it easier to tap Japanese and
European surplus capital for financing US trade and fiscal deficits
and have brought productive investment to US soil. But this new
financial environment is also creating some potential risks", he
warned.
The CIA was increasingly finding that its researchers had to
concentrate on the economic dimension, he went on, arguing that the
Third World debt problem could lead to political instability that
could affect US security interests.
"Along with the globalisation of international finance has come
the greater use of the financial system by governments and groups
whose objectives threaten our national security interests",
"The international narcotics money-laundering industry, as well as
terrorist activities, gray arms purchases, technology transfer and
nuclear proliferation, are often funded through the world's
financial networks", he went on.
Although the traditional mission of watching the Soviet Union and
the Eastern block would be maintained, this too was changing its
focus.
"We will be looking to see if the Soviet compensate for cutbacks
in defence research, development and procurement by increasing
their efforts to obtain Western defence information and
technology";-'Mr Webster added.
"Despite Glasnost and perestroika, the intelligence activities of
the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies have not abated", he
added.
ends
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/05/29: CIA-RDP99-01448R000401640020-2