FAS

DNI Seeks to Bolster IC Foreign Language Capability

07.09.12 | 1 min read | Text by Steven Aftergood

The Director of National Intelligence issued a new directive that is intended to improve foreign language skills throughout the U.S. intelligence community.

“Foreign language capabilities are essential to the performance of intelligence missions and operations,” the May 2012 directive notes.

Foreign language competence for intelligence purposes extends well beyond mastery of a common vocabulary or the ability to translate a newspaper article.

“Foreign language capabilities include a broad range of language proficiency skills and other abilities, such as cultural awareness and understanding, regional expertise, skill in translation and interpretation, and knowledge of the scientific and technical vocabularies of critical foreign languages,” the directive says.

“This Directive establishes an integrated approach to develop, maintain, and improve foreign language capabilities across the Intelligence Community (IC).” See Intelligence Community Directive 630, “Intelligence Community Foreign Language Capability,” May 14, 2012.

Shortfalls in foreign language abilities are a recurring problem in U.S. intelligence agencies.

“U.S. intelligence efforts are complicated by unfilled requirements for foreign language expertise,” according to the Congressional Research Service.

“A major constraint on HUMINT collection is the availability of personnel trained in appropriate languages. Cold War efforts required a supply of linguists in a relatively finite set of foreign languages, but the intelligence community now needs experts in a wider range of more obscure languages and dialects,” wrote CRS specialist Richard A. Best, Jr. last year.

publications
See all publications
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Moving Beyond Pilot Programs to Codify and Expand Continuous AI Benchmarking in Testing and Evaluation

At this inflection point, the choice is not between speed and safety but between ungoverned acceleration and a calculated momentum that allows our strategic AI advantage to be both sustained and secured.

06.11.25 | 12 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
Develop a Risk Assessment Framework for AI Integration into Nuclear Weapons Command, Control, and Communications Systems

Improved detection could strengthen deterrence, but only if accompanying hazards—automation bias, model hallucinations, exploitable software vulnerabilities, and the risk of eroding assured second‑strike capability—are well managed.

06.11.25 | 8 min read
read more
FAS
Press release
Federation of American Scientists and Georgetown University Tech & Society Launch Fellowships for Former Federal Officials

New initiative brings nine experts with federal government experience to work with the FAS and Tech & Society’s Beeck Center for Social Impact + Innovation, the Knight-Georgetown Institute, and the Institute for Technology Law & Policy Wednesday, June 11, 2025—Today Georgetown University’s Tech & Society Initiative and the Federation of American Scientists (FAS) announce two […]

06.11.25 | 9 min read
read more
Emerging Technology
day one project
Policy Memo
A National Center for Advanced AI Reliability and Security

A dedicated and properly resourced national entity is essential for supporting the development of safe, secure, and trustworthy AI to drive widespread adoption, by providing sustained, independent technical assessments and emergency coordination.

06.11.25 | 10 min read
read more