Download the full issue. How do we define “homeland security?” Is it best addressed at a local, state, or national level? These are the underlying questions posed by our authors in this issue of Homeland Security Affairs. In “What is Homeland Security?” Christopher Bellavita presents seven definitions of homeland security, based on claims about what…
Issue 2 (Vol IV)
Changing Homeland Security: What is Homeland Security?
Christopher Bellavita ABSTRACT: There are at least seven defensible definitions of homeland security, based on claims about what homeland security emphasizes or ought to emphasize. The definitions focus on (1) terrorism, (2) all hazards, (3) terrorism and catastrophe, (4) jurisdictional hazards, (5) meta hazards, (6) national security, and (7) government efforts to curtail civil liberties.…
…And Not a Drop to Drink. Water: an Alternative Test for Emergency Managers
Michael Byrne ABSTRACT: When a disaster is declared, FEMA evaluates the damage and determines what needs must be met. Between that determination and the actually delivery of supplies — including clean water — to disaster victims, the government requires a number of steps that, while necessary from a process standpoint, appear to inhibit the delivery…
National Strike Teams: An Alternate Approach to Low Probability, High Consequence Events
Adam Crowe ABSTRACT: This article evaluates the effectiveness of current funding and planning for low probability, high consequence events such as bioterrorism, foreign animal disease, pandemic influenza, mass fatality incidents, and terrorism. Based on existing significant funding streams, but with minimal impact on most communities, an alternate planning and response approach is suggested that utilizes…
Findings from the Forum on Homeland Security After the Bush Administration: Next Steps in Building Unity of Effort
Paul Stockton and Patrick Roberts ABSTRACT: Stanford University’s Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC) convened a forum of government and private sector leaders in homeland security to propose specific, practical steps that the next administration can take to strengthen collaboration in homeland security. This report summarizes their recommendations and proposes a number of structural…
Terrorism, Networks, and Strategy: Why the Conventional Wisdom is Wrong
David Tucker ABSTRACT: Once we understand the relative strengths and weaknesses of networks and hierarchies, and the environments in which they operate, we can discern optimal strategies for these organizations. With regard to the United States and its confrontation with networked terrorists, the optimal strategy turns out to be the opposite of what the conventional…
Paramilitary Terrorism: A Neglected Threat
Bill Tallen ABSTRACT: A fixation upon WMD terrorism, reinforced by the recurring need to manage the consequences of other manmade or natural disasters, conditions the homeland security community to focus upon prevention and consequence management, with scant attention paid to resolving an ongoing terrorist incident of a paramilitary nature. Seizure by a large, well-armed terrorist…
Book Review: George Kennan’s Ghost: Faith Reason, and the War Against Jihadism by George Weigel
Philip Palin ABSTRACT: Philip J. Palin reviews Faith, Reason, and the War Against Jihadism, by George Weigel. A Catholic scholar argues for reason as a weapon in the current struggle. The reviewer wonders about American culture’s readiness to deploy reason or faith and asks Weigel to give us more. SUGGESTED CITATION: Palin, Philip. “George Kennan’s…