The Strategic Challenges Of Homeland Security

The Department of Homeland Security plays in a very important part in terrorism. DHS protect the United States from foreign and domestic threats to the United States. One of the missions is to find and destroy any weapon of mass destruction. Cyberspace is a threat to the United States in the technology field. DHS have to stop threats, hazards and disasters in its tracks at large public gatherings.

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security was formed more than a decade ago with a very significant mission of safeguarding America's homeland from hazards, threats, and national disasters. This department conducts its mission through securing the country's borders, preventing terror attacks, and responding to incidents or threats to its citizens (Miller, n.d.). Generally, the most important roles of the Department of Homeland Security are to lead a concerted national effort in securing the United States and preserving the American way of life. The department was established in 2002 in reaction to the 9/11 terror attacks and has since developed a nationwide strategic plan for evaluating and updating its mission statement and effectiveness of operations. These plans can be updated and transformed to accomplish the needs of the Department for Homeland Security and the American people.

As we move into a new era were a more robust and urgent homeland security program is needed, it is important to talk about how officials are managing all of the risk. There are a multitude of threats; from terrorism, where tactics are all the more unconventional an unpredictable, to climate change, with extreme weather conditions causing severe droughts or other catastrophic storms. The risk accepted by federal officials must be weighed and prioritized in a manner that is conducive to the longevity of the nation but also eliminates political or other personal agenda. To ensure a standardized approach the Department of Homeland Security adopted a risk management. The following will look at defining what risk management is as well as an example of how it is being incorporated within the homeland security enterprise and how doing so is of benefit.

Select one of the six “Prevailing challenges that pose the most strategically significant risk” (Strategic risks) found on page 28 of DHS’ 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review. Answer these questions regarding the selected risk: What consequences are faced at the national level if this threat is not adequately addressed? Do you believe this risk is being adequately addressed now? Why or why not?

The Department of Homeland Securities 2014 Quadrennial Homeland Security Review (QHSR) identifies six prevailing strategic challenges for the United States for the next several years. Those challenges are; the threat of terrorism, cyber threats, transnational criminal organizations, natural hazards, nuclear terrorism, and biological concerns. These threats represent challenges not only for the local communities, but the nation as a whole. There are a number of ways for states, local communities, and tribal organizations to prioritize and assess the greatest risks applicable to them, and the means in which to implement mitigating measures to reduce the risk from identified threats and hazards.

Terrorism was traditionally viewed as a term ascribed to others. Prior to the events of 9/11, it was applied to foreign conflicts that were read about and briefly covered by media outlets, thus viewed as an abstract concept and someone else’s problem. Some would argue that the events of 9/11 was the fourth act of terroristic activities on American soil. The first was perpetrated on Native Americans, second would be the horrors and hells of the North American slave trade and third is lynching.

The Department of Homeland Security is liable for establishing the safety and defense of the U.S. from terrorism and natural disasters. In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks on America by terrorists, Department of Homeland Security’s main concern has been on federal measures to prevent terrorism attacks and handle other crisis situations. When the Department of Homeland Security was created it had four goals: to diminish America’s vulnerability to terrorism by securing the borders, minimizing the damage and speed the recovery from attacks that happen to occur, to develop technologies devices to detect terrorism and to share all intelligence gathered from all federal agencies (Haulley, 2006). These four

It is impossible for any organization to stay current on their homeland security preparedness efforts without including a plan for the future. Key questions to ask during this part of the assessment include: Who will be involved in the development of the organization’s homeland security planning? How will the organization’s homeland security efforts develop to meet newly emerging threats? Key areas that must be considered in an organization’s planning include: the needs of the customer, technological advancement to meet newly emerging threats, how to increase the organization’s strengths and diminish its weaknesses, and financial concerns such as budgeting for homeland security

As stated in our textbook, terrorism is defined as, “The use or threat of violence to create terror in others, usually for political purposes” (Ember 299). Most often, when individuals hear the word, they think of September 11, 2001, the fateful day that changed our country. Since that day, it seems as if the word “terrorism” has become a common term used by newscasters, politicians, and everyday individuals alike. The concept and fear associated with “terrorism” has seemingly dominated the lives of Americans—and other individuals—since, implying that there was a time before 2001 where terrorism wasn’t as prevalent or didn’t exist. However, this certainly is not true because terrorism is not a new concept at all. As stated by our textbook,

The ability of the Department of Homeland Security to effectively manage risk is vital to national security. Risk in general, is something that is permanent but because this is known, strategies can be used to mitigate situations as they present themselves. Government managers must manage risk in a complex environment taking into consideration the diverse missions and multiple objectives of public agencies (Hardy, 2014). The role of risk management within the homeland security enterprise was managed by best and worst case scenario planning. This is something that is inevitable as we are faced within a definite variety of threats. One way to grade or rank threats is through worst-case analysis. As this analysis can be used for worst-case scenarios the federal government cannot leave out lower ranking situations (Roberts, 2007). Since the Department of Homeland Security is charged with managing risk within the enterprise, a basic equation is used to help figure out different variables and how they would be affected.

Within the areas of Homeland Security and Homeland Defense lie specific primary missions, tasks, duties, and responsibilities of each. The primary missions, tasks, duties, and responsibilities of Homeland Security and Defense include preventing terrorism and enhancing security, securing and managing our borders, and enforcing immigration laws. In addition to those missions, a new and evolving mission is that of cybersecurity. In the future, is the department ready to tackle these tasks? The department has done a great job at preventing an attack ever since the attacks of 9/11. What types of challenges are faced in the future? The tools that are needed are there, it all depends on how the department moves forward and implements these actions.

After the 9/11 terrorist attacks against the United States, a series of risk management evaluations were created by the US Federal Government to assess the future risks the homeland was going to face. When the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) was officially created in 2002, more effective risk management assessments were re-designed to evaluate the past and present dangers, prevent them and respond successfully to more terrorist attacks. Since 2001 until 2007, a development of risk assessment has been divided in phases to be able to reach a better formula that would analyze the risk within the homeland security and provide the appropriate fund to homeland security enterprise.

According to the text book, terrorism is defined as a systematic attempt to inspire fear to gain political ends, typically involving the indiscriminate use of violence against noncombatants. Terrorist attacks is definately not new to the U.S. In 2001, al Qaeda lauched an attack on New York’s World Trade Center. The attack killed thousands of Americans, and put the country in a state of panic and scare. One reason for this attack was that Islamics were angered that the U.S had troops on the soil of Saudi Arabia, which was regarded as sacred. Groups such as al Qaeda are extremely violent, and will not be negotiated with for peace. Recently, we have had several terrorist attacks including the Boston Marathon bombing, Muslim shooting at Fort Hood, and ISIS attacks on soldiers and journalists. Recently, attacks from domestic islamists are a major concern for the U.S. These individuals are self radicalized through beliefs and the internet, rather than being a part of a group. Farook and Malik, of the San Bernardino attacks, are examples of this.

We define terrorism as using force to influence or change a political decision. Given that there may be an array of situations the U.S. government and the American people are faced with on a daily basis, most would probably agree in saying that terrorism is the most imperative issue we are not only becoming victims to, but are interminably asked to deal with as well as finding a solution for.

From the lips of the FBI, “Terrorism is the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objective.” On September 11, 2001 the United States of America experienced such actions, it was the largest terror attack experienced by any country. The affect this had on America was tremendous,