Risk, Deterrence, and Prospect Theory: Decision Bias Influence on Quantifiable Deterrence Efficacy in Reducing Risk
This work applies prospect theory and other theories of biased decision-making to advance the study of the relationship between quantifiable deterrence and CIKR risk reduction metrics.
By Eric Taquechel
Ted Lewis Reviews Andrew Fox’s The Devil’s Toy Box
I recommend this book for the lay reader who wants to see what it is like to be a terrorist and how homeland security practitioners approach the terrorist problem. It makes entertaining reading for the non-expert, non-homeland security practitioner as well.
By Ted Lewis
Special Book Review Issue, September 2022
For the September 2022 issue, Homeland Security Affairs has produced a collection of book reviews by CHDS faculty. Each faculty member was asked to identify and review a book that they have used in a CHDS class and which they believe provides a significant contribution to Homeland Security as an academic discipline.
Comparative Analysis of CT/CVE Policies: USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden, and North Macedonia
We conducted a comparative analysis of five countries’ CT/CVE policies—USA, Canada, United Kingdom, Sweden and North Macedonia—to identify common values and themes.
By Alberto Montrond, Anna Ekström, Rachel Nielson, Metodi Hadji-Janev and Elena Savoia
Mitigation Saves? High Discount Rates Undermine FEMA’s Efforts to Promote National Resilience
The essay discusses consequences of the unjustifiably high 7% discount rate that FEMA applies in its evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of proposed hazard mitigation projects, raising particular concern about the misleading inconsistency with which FEMA reports the benefits of hazard mitigation.
By Luke Dodds
From the CHDS Theses Executive Summaries

Outstanding Thesis Award Winner, December 2022
Reconstruction Terror: Origins, Applications, and Implications
The recent electoral violence that arose around election cycles, voting rights, and democratic participation by non-White citizens is a familiar extremism. It is a historic terror, rooted in Reconstruction. After the Civil War, America underwent a period of fundamental change that many considered revolutionary to their existing identities, and so that looming change was met with counterrevolutionary force and terror. But while historic, it is not anachronistic. A similar violence arose during America’s “Second Reconstruction,” the Civil Rights movement, which featured many of the same issues of equality and increased access to democratic processes by non-White communities.
By Matthew Davison
Embedding Meteorologists and Hydrologists into Emergency Operations
As alert systems have evolved over the years, it has served to enhance timely coordination between emergency managers and meteorologists.
By Julie Malingowski, Cameron Carlson, Linda Kiltz and Nicole Jacobs
Securing America’s Borders Through the Lens of Cost-Wise Readiness
CBP launched an agency-wide strategic initiative Cost-Wise Readiness (CWR) program, adopting best practices from across government and industry.
By Pat Lorzing
Integrating Preparatory Consequence Management and Law Enforcement Operations During “Left of Boom” Terrorist Threats
This article offers a new planning approach enabling all levels of government to integrate cohesively to maximize their ability to stop the terrorist while minimizing the potential consequences.
By Scott J. Glick