In the early 1990s, what did the Intelligence Community (IC) focus its attention on?

During the early 1990s, the Intelligence Community (IC) significantly increased its focus on counterterrorist operations. This period followed the end of the Cold War, which led to a reassessment of national security priorities. With the rise of global terrorism, particularly as evidenced by attacks such as the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center, the IC recognized the necessity of addressing threats posed by terrorist organizations.

The emphasis on counterterrorism also stemmed from the evolving nature of threats in a post-Cold War world, where traditional state-centric threats gave way to non-state actors engaged in asymmetric warfare. This shift necessitated new strategies and intelligence-gathering techniques to preempt and respond to potential terrorist activities.

In contrast, while espionage, civilian intelligence, and drug trafficking were also relevant topics during that time, they did not dominate the priorities of the IC in the same way that counterterrorism did. Ultimately, the growing awareness of terrorism as both a national and global security threat shaped the IC's agenda throughout the 1990s and beyond.