HLS802:

Lesson 1: Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on an Evolving Homeland Security Mission Space

Lesson Overview

This lesson provides an overview of most recently established knowledge and methodologies in the homeland security field of study, and how they apply to practice. It emphasizes analytical thinking and application of knowledge in the context of providing pragmatic solutions for professionals.

Lesson Objectives

By the end of this lesson, you should be able to:

• Describe how homeland security relates to national security
• Explain the multi-threat and all-hazard approach to homeland security
• Understand different definitions of homeland security and persistent evolving threats   
• Provide examples for the need of coordination and explain the meaning of integrated homeland security governance
• Cite examples of methodologies for multifaceted analysis  of homeland security 

Lesson Readings

1. Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Homeland and Civil Security, Introduction: "Homeland and Civil Security Research Studies for an Evolving Mission Space: Introduction and Overview of Chapters"
2. Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Homeland and Civil Security, Glossary
3. Kahan, Jerome 2013, "What's in a Name? The Meaning of Homeland Security," Journal of Homeland Security Education 2.
4. Kiltz, Linda and James D. Ramsay 2012, "Perceptual Framing of Homeland Security.”Homeland Security Affairs 8 Article 16.
5. Reese, Shawn 2013, Defining Homeland Security: Analysis and Congressional Considerations. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report R42462, January 8.
6. Title 22 of the USC (United States Code), definitions of “international terrorism,” “terrorism,” and “terrorist group.”

The Bigger Picture: U.S. National Security Strategy 2015

The United States' National Security Strategy of 2015 (p. 2) calls for a prioritization of "efforts that address the top strategic risks to our interests:

• Catastrophic attack on the U.S. homeland or critical infrastructure;
• Threats or attacks against U.S. citizens abroad and our allies;
• Global economic crisis or widespread economic slowdown;
• Proliferation and/or use of weapons of mass destruction;
• Severe global infectious disease outbreaks;
• Climate change;
• Major energy market disruptions; and
• Significant security consequences associated with weak or failing states (including mass atrocities,regional spillover, and transnational organized crime)."

In the light of this multifaceted risk environment, the National Security Strategy goes on to emphasize the need to address it in a multifaceted way, focused on resilience when in comes to homeland security, and including fostering a capable national security workforce (p. 3):   

"America’s strategic fundamentals are strong but should not be taken for granted. We must be innovative
and judicious in how we use our resources to build up our national power. Going forward, we will
strengthen our foundation by growing our economy, modernizing our defense, upholding our values,
enhancing the resilience of our homeland, and promoting talent and diversity in our national security
workforce."

Specifically, the National Security Strategy explains that, and how, homeland security needs to be "reinforced," providing examples of how multifaceted approaches could, and should, look like in practice (pp. 8-9): 

• "Our homeland is more secure. But, we must continue to learn and adapt to evolving threats and hazards. We are better able to guard against terrorism—the core responsibility of homeland security—as well as illicit networks and other threats and hazards due to improved information sharing, aviation and border security, and international cooperation. We have emphasized community-based efforts and local law enforcement programs to counter homegrown violent extremism and protect vulnerable individuals from extremist ideologies that could lead them to join conflicts overseas or carry out attacks here at home. Through risk-based approaches, we have countered terrorism and transnational organized crime in ways that enhance commerce, travel, and tourism and, most fundamentally, preserve our civil liberties. We are more responsive and resilient when prevention fails or disaster strikes as witnessed with the Boston Marathon bombings and Hurricane Sandy."
• "The essential services that underpin American society must remain secure and functioning in the face of diverse threats and hazards. Therefore, we take a Whole of Community approach, bringing together all elements of our society—individuals, local communities, the private and non-profit sectors, faith-based organizations, and all levels of government—to make sure America is resilient in the face of adversity."
• "We are working with the owners and operators of our Nation’s critical cyber and physical infrastructure across every sector—financial, energy, transportation, health, information technology, and more—to decrease vulnerabilities and increase resilience. We are partnering with states and local communities to better plan for, absorb, recover from, and adapt to adverse events brought about by the compounding effects of climate change. We will also continue to enhance pandemic preparedness at home and address the threat arising from new drug-resistant microbes and biological agents."

QHSR 2014: Multi-Threat and All-Hazard Homeland Security

The context for this course is well described in the 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review:

"THE CORNERSTONE OF HOMELAND SECURITY IS PREVENTING TERRORISM, BUT HOMELAND SECURITY MUST BE MULTI-THREAT AND ALL-HAZARD

Events of the past 12 years demonstrate that we must consider the full range of threats and hazards facing the Nation when setting homeland security strategy and priorities.  The Department is a multi-mission, multi-function agency, covering long-standing functions such as civil defense, emergency response, customs, border control, law enforcement, and immigration.  As one agency, we are able to improve efficiency by identifying the common characteristics among the wide variety of threats and hazards we face and by identifying common ways to address them."

See: U.S. Department of Homeland Security: 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. Washington, D.C., p. 30. 

While terrorism remains a core mission of homeland security, the homeland security mission space today is manifold and further driven by a set of risk-informed priorities, as also laid out in the 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review:

Five Enduring Core Missions:

• Prevent terrorism and enhancing security;
• Secure and manage our borders;
• Enforce and administer our immigration laws;
• Safeguard and secure cyberspace;
• Ensure resilience to disasters;
• In addition, mature and strengthen the homeland security enterprise itself.

Further, the National Preparedness Goal, based on Presidential Policy Directive 8 (PPD-8): National Preparedness (2011), introduced a capability-based approach, underlining the importance of collaboration across different professional disciplines of homeland security to provide for the 31 core capabilities necessary to achieve the national preparedness goal as a whole community. The National Preparedness Goal is defined as:

"A secure and resilient nation with the capabilities required across the whole community to prevent, protect against, mitigate, respond to, and recover from the threats and hazards that pose the greatest risk."

These risks include for example natural disasters, disease pandemics, chemical spills and other man-made hazards, terrorist attacks and cyber attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security Evolving - and the Need for Coordination

This multi-disciplinary and capability-based approach to preparedness is one major aspect of the evolution of homeland security since September 11, 2001, as depicted in the following illustration:

Allen Miller: “Homeland Security Overview,” PowerPoint Presentation, U.S. Army War College, April 13, 2015.

You analyzed the homeland security mission space and the need for coordinated response to threats and risks in previous courses in the iMPS-HLS Program, such as HLS 801 or P ADM 401. If you would like to refresh your understanding of this or are from a different program, watch the following video featuring a presentation by Allen Miller, Ph.D., former Senior Policy Adviser at the DHS Office of Policy, Strategy, Planning, Analysis and Risk (SPAR), and Visiting Professor of Homeland Security Homeland Defense and Security at the U.S. Army War College: 

You will have access to full Video in the course. 

The PowerPoint presentation underpinning Allen Miller's lecture is available here:

You will have access to full PowerPoint in the course.

Cross-disciplinary Analysis and Definitional Challenges

Multifaceted approaches in homeland security need to be rooted in cross-disciplinary analysis, and practitioners and leaders in homeland security need to be capable analysts, using state of the art knowledge and methodologies.

As pointed out in the introduction to the textbook, Cross-disciplinary Perspectives on Homeland and Civil Security,

"Homeland security is about risk management in a dynamic all-hazards context that defines its evolving mission space. This does not mean that its objective is to address all and any hazards that might emerge. Policies and strategies in the U.S. and elsewhere have pointed out that in order to be effective (and affordable), homeland security needs to be selective, focusing on 'the greatest risks' to security, or on those that are responsive to our strategies and technological tools. If the risk-informed approach to prioritizing civil security efforts and resources is followed consistently, we may see practices as well as political and institutional designations change over time because the definition of, and response to, risk is not only evidence based, but also culturally driven. Thus, security is neither implementation of the obvious nor ontological, but an ongoing controversy. A cross-disciplinary perspective is essential for an actionable, balanced view." (p. 1)

The evolving multifaceted character of homeland security poses a couple of definitional challenges. The textbook offers some working definitions, including of some important analytical concepts, in a Glossary (pp. 247-257) and that is part of this lesson's required readings. 

To start with, the definition of homeland security itself is contested, or at least ambiguous, as described in this lesson's readings:

• Jerome Kahan: "What's in a Name? The Meaning of Homeland Security," Journal of Homeland Security Education 2 (2013).
• Shawn Reese: Defining Homeland Security: Analysis and Congressional Considerations. Congressional Research Service (CRS) Report R42462, January 8, 2013.

One way to reconcile those different perspectives is to apply the "lens model" as described in the following lesson reading:

• Linda Kiltz and James D. Ramsay: "Perceptual Framing of Homeland Security.”Homeland Security Affairs 8 Article 16 (August 2012).

Not only homeland security as an enterprise can be looked at through the lenses of different disciplines and domains, but also the terms used to define homeland security core missions are sometimes defined differently. However, whereas there is no statutory definition of the homeland or of homeland security, legal definitions of terrorism exist, as exemplified by the following lesson reading: 

• Title 22 of the USC (United States Code), which includes a definition of “international terrorism,” “terrorism,” and “terrorist group.”

Defining Terrorism

“One man’s terrorist is another’s freedom fighter” 

To summarize, there are certain characteristics that do establish a basis for terrorism. Politically-motivated violence or threatened violence,  purposefully targeting civilians or non-combatants, creating a psychology of fear in a society, and insuring recognition for the perpetrator are characteristics of terrorism. Further, while it is important to understand terrorism, we should not necessarily expend too many resources in refining a definition, risking to miss the point of how to practically counter terrorism.

Terrorism and Counterterrorism

The meaning of counterterrorism is most easily understood by comparing it to terrorism. This is most easily done by looking at goals and actions.  The goals and actions that terrorist take can be distilled to the three "Rs" of terrorism:

• Response: a terrorist act is a response to a perceived or perhaps actual injustice. For example, it might be global such as the Palestinians' call for statehood. It might be regional -- the Chechen desire for independence. Or, it might be ideological, Al Qaeda's perception that Islam has been humiliated globally; or even personal. Domestically, for example possible demonstrations by pro- and anti-abortion groups today undergo a law-enforcement driven terrorism threat assessment at the local and regional level, to identify potential occurrence of unplanned violence, such as involvement of known radical organizations, bombings, or violence against clinics.
• Reaction: terrorism is intended to invoke a reaction from the targeted group. This might be fear, political change, or even military reaction. Robert Kilcullen in the Accidental Guerilla provides an exceptional model whereby a disproportional repsonse by authorities is the goal of terrorist acts in order to turn the local population against a government.  
• Recognition: the exploitation phase of the act. It has four distinct targets and is meant to bring recognition to the perpetrating group and their cause among the targeted population; inspire and mobilize the group's membership and supporters; attract new recruits to the cause; and expose the group's "plight" to the broader international community. 

Because of its multiple goals, recognition brings up some interesting questions.  For example, does an act require exploitation by the group to be effective? Probably, although there might be tactical reasons such as a follow-on attack to wait on claiming responsibility.  The cyber-attack on Estonia in 2007 went without a claim for responsibility.  No one seemed to have an interest in bringing recognition to themselves in this case. This may be attributed to the unsubstantiated involvement of the Russian government, however. While it appears to have been conducted by an unaffiliated group of "hackers", it remains unclear the extent to which the Russian government was involved and it may not have wanted to face the international condemnation for its involvement. Notwithstanding, the importance of recognition seems to be confirmed by groups claiming responsibility for most attacks. The Pakistani Taliban (Tehrik e-Taliban Pakistan) actually posted a YouTube statement claiming responsibility for what they assumed would be a successful attack by Faisal Shahzad in Times Square in May 2010.

So what then is counter-terrorism? Counter-terrorism is the efforts aimed at preventing, protecting against, mitigating, responding to, and recovering from terrorist attacks.

The United Kingdom for example has clearly delineated its counter-terrorism strategy based on the principle of the 4 "Ps":

• Prevent (i.e., gathering intelligence in order to interdict),
• Prepare (i.e., making society aware of threats and gearing them to respond to and recover from them),
• Protect (i.e., hardening targets), and
• Pursue (i.e. hunt down the terrorists).

The United States has followed a similar path defined by what instruments to apply, how to apply them, and where to apply them - or put another way, prevent, prepare, mitigate, and recover. These encompass the relentless pursuit of terrorists which includes a combination of military action, intelligence gathering, and partnership building; addressing upstream factors of radicalization and violent behavior, and preparing the population to absorb a terrorist attack by avoiding over-reaction and insuring recovery by planning, training, and exercising for the event.

Hence, counter-terrorism is the practice of collaboration and information sharing within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), among DHS and other federal, state, and local agencies, as well as the private sector, and with partner countries globally.

What is Not Terrorism

In order to combat terrorism, it is important to have a rational perspective of what it is, and what it is not. According to  Paul Pillar, an attack by a government’s duly uniformed or otherwise identifiable armed force is not terrorism but war. (Howard, p. 25) This definition establishes a context for better understanding terrorism. While individuals and governments may perpetrate terrorist acts during a time of war, the context of war means they are not terrorism per se. Of course, certain acts in wartime do exceed the acceptable norms of civilized behavior test and thus are punishable as war crimes. Second, while terrorists perform criminal acts or coalesce with criminal groups, differences exist. Criminals seek material gain and have limited, if any, political objectives. They also tend to benefit from a prosperous economic system in which they operate and thus have no desire to destroy it. Third, crime may, and often is, perpetrated by individuals.  

Summary

To sum up, the following video provides an overview on homeland security from a multidisciplinary and academic point of view, and ends in explaining why the comparative perspective is important in state-of-the-art study and practice of multifaceted approaches to homeland security.

You will have access to full Video in the course.

Lecture by iMPS-HLS Program Chair Dr. Alexander Siedschlag.

Transcript available on request.

Accompanying PowerPoint presentation.  

Lesson Activity

• For Discussion: 

  What are the major differences between domestic and international terrorism? How does terrorism before 9/11 differ in its basic motivations compared with terrorism after 9/11?

Post your answers to Lesson 01 Discussion forum.

Ensure you have devoted at least one full paragraph (5-6 sentences) to your thoughts. Then, respond to at least one other student’s post with a meaningful comment.

Citations

Howard, Russell D. and Sawyer, Reid L. 2006 Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment, McGraw Hill, New York.  

Mueller, John.  2009 Establishing Principles for Evaluating Measures Designed to Protect the Homeland from Terrorism. Paper presented at International Studies Association (ISA) New York, New York.

Sedgwick, Mark. 2004 "Al-Qaeda and the Nature of Religious Terrorism," Terrorism and Political Violence, vol. 16, pp. 795-814.