External Assessments Bureau
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The External Assessments Bureau (EAB) is one of New Zealand's intelligence agencies.
[edit] Role
The EAB is responsible for collecting and analysing information on external matters which may affect New Zealand, including foreign states, individuals, and events. It draws on both public and confidential sources — while some of its information comes from the Security Intelligence Service, Government Communications Security Bureau, and New Zealand diplomatic posts, other information comes from academic discourse, the media, and other publicly available sources. The EAB itself does not undertake intelligence-gathering operations — its role is to interpret and process information from other sources, producing reports which may be used as a basis for decision-making in other branches of government.
[edit] History
A forerunner to the EAB, the Joint Intelligence Office, was originally established in 1949. In 1953, it was renamed the Joint Intelligence Bureau. In 1975, the Joint Intelligence Bureau was incorporated into a new organisation, the External Intelligence Bureau, which also assumed a number of responsibilities formerly undertaken by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Ministry of Defence. The organisation adopted its present name in 1988.
The EAB is part of the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, having been absorbed in 1991. As such, it answers directly to the Prime Minister. The EAB's reports are guided by the National Assessments Committee, a sub-committee of the Officials Committee for Domestic and External Security Coordination.
