Leiden University Scholarly Publications

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Tuinier, D.H. (2025)

The social ties that bind: the role of social relations and trust in EU intelligence cooperation

Doctoral Thesis
Intelligence scholars have been struggling to find the conditions under which international intelligence cooperation occurs. Most focus on transactional motives and guaranteed returns, the so called ‘Quid pro Quo’. At the same time, trust is often mentioned as one of the foremost conditions, yet it has seldom been critically examined in this context. This study fills this gap. Based on a conceptual framework derived from sociology and interorganizational relations, it scrutinizes how social relations and trust influence cooperation practices in the EU intelligence system. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with senior intelligence professionals from national services and EU intelligence organizations. It concludes that social relations play a far bigger role in international intelligence cooperation than is often assumed by scholars and practitioners. In the setting of EU intelligence, it is not so much transaction, but interaction that fosters cooperative behavior....Show moreIntelligence scholars have been struggling to find the conditions under which international intelligence cooperation occurs. Most focus on transactional motives and guaranteed returns, the so called ‘Quid pro Quo’. At the same time, trust is often mentioned as one of the foremost conditions, yet it has seldom been critically examined in this context. This study fills this gap. Based on a conceptual framework derived from sociology and interorganizational relations, it scrutinizes how social relations and trust influence cooperation practices in the EU intelligence system. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with senior intelligence professionals from national services and EU intelligence organizations. It concludes that social relations play a far bigger role in international intelligence cooperation than is often assumed by scholars and practitioners. In the setting of EU intelligence, it is not so much transaction, but interaction that fosters cooperative behavior. Contrary to the common view that there are no friends in intelligence, likeability and personal relations downplay feelings of rivalry. Despite low prominence and poor reputation in the European intelligence network, shared institutions and collective identities in the intelligence community provide the EU with a simple and efficient basis for trust-based cooperation.
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Intelligence Cooperation
European Union
Trust
All authors
Tuinier, D.H.
Supervisor
Rietjens, S.J.H.; Koops, J.A.; Brocades Zaalberg, T.W.
Committee
Caminada, C.L.J.; Broeders, D.W.J.; Puyvelde, D.T.N. van; Aldrich, R.J.; Vrist Ronn, K.
Qualification
Doctor (dr.)
Awarding Institution
Institute of Security and Global Affairs, Faculty of Governance and Global Affairs, Leiden University
Date
2025-01-22
ISBN (print)
9789493124394

Funding

Sponsorship
This dissertation was financially and factually supported by the Ministry of Defence of the Netherlands. The views and opinions in this dissertation are and remain solely the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of the Ministry of Defence.