This. People -- and I would include both Wikileaks and The Atlantic here -- seem to be conflating or confusing the distinct displines of intelligence collectio

This. People -- and I would include both Wikileaks and The Atlantic here -- seem to be conflating or confusing the distinct displines of intelligence collection and intelligence analysis. Stratfor's strong suit is analysis: putting pieces together and making sense of them. Whether or not it does a good job at analysis is up for debate, but to my understanding, analysis has always been its bread and butter. Given that there are very few organizations in the world today doing cogent analysis based on accurate intel, it's not surprising that Stratfor has found a market for its wares. (To wit: even government agencies are having an increasingly hard time finding competent analysts, as the top talent at major universities typically goes to Wall Street instead). If Stratfor is actually doing any intelligence collection -- or, more probably, puffing up its own reputation as an intelligence collection agency -- it's primarily doing so to lend credibility to its analysis. Stratfor's brand benefits from all the "private CIA" blather, if up to a point.