Homeland Security

Practising Homeland Security across the Atlantic: Practical Learning and Policy Convergence in North America and Europe

by Ruben Zaiotti

European Security (forthcoming 2012)

Despite different traditions, interests and perceptions characterizing North American and European approaches to... more Despite different traditions, interests and perceptions characterizing North American and European approaches to homeland security, since 9/11 policy-makers across the Atlantic have formulated increasingly similar policies to deal with terrorism and other international security threats. Challenging mainstream accounts elaborated in the policy convergence literature, and drawing from sociological works in performance studies, this essay argues that the recent evolution of homeland security policies in Europe and North America can be understood as an instance of ‘practical learning’. From this perspective, this outcome is the result of the acquisition on the part of European and North American policy-makers of the practical knowledge necessary to carry out the new policies, policies learned by mimicking the practices of their counterparts across the Atlantic. This argument is then applied to examine two cases of policy convergence in Europe and North America – the proposal for a ‘European Passenger Name Record’ system and the project of a regional ‘Security Perimeter’

Review: Karen Lund Petersen, 2012. Corporate Risk and National Security Redefined. London: Routledge.

by Jonas Hagmann

Forthcoming in: Cambridge Review of International Affairs

Concerns with terrorism not only have a profound impact on Western security policies, they also affect the internal... more Concerns with terrorism not only have a profound impact on Western security policies, they also affect the internal political organisation of Western polities as such, with private actors being increasingly enlisted directly in the fight against terrorism. Karen Lund Petersen’s book is dedicated to such governmental attempts at ‘responsibilising’ companies. Looking at how politicians in Denmark and the United States formulate the need for society-wide responses to the risk of terrorism, her book analyses how novel conceptualisations of the private sector’s role in national security are projected onto the market, and how companies respond to such ideas.

A Model Assessment Tool for the Incident Command System: A Case Study of the San Antonio Fire Department

by Brian O'Neill

Title of Presentation:Evaluation of UK Government Led Prevent Programme, Processes to Radicalisation in Local Communities in UK & Europe and Trans-National Network Connections of Faith-Based Radicalisation

by Owais Rajput

OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY:

To evaluate the prevent programme within the contest of UK’s effort at Global Counter Terrorism.  
Prevent... more To evaluate the prevent programme within the contest of UK’s effort at Global Counter Terrorism.  
Prevent Programme and Locality issue in UK & Europe.
Issue of Home-Grown Radicalisation
Processes to Radicalisation.
Social and Political Processes leads towards to Home-Grown Radicalisation and on later stage towards to Terrorism.

The Power of "the Few": A Key Strategic Challenge for the Permanently Disrupted High-Tech Homeland Security Environment

by Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez

This article argues for a new organizational approach to homeland security, designed to confront the challenges of a... more This article argues for a new organizational approach to homeland security, designed to confront the challenges of a highly disrupted environment in a more efficient way. Initially, it explains how the accelerating pace of innovation creates a set of homeland security challenges that empower small groups or individuals – "the few" – in new and unpredictable ways. Next, it demonstrates why the current organizational model for homeland security is systemically insufficient to respond to this permanently disrupted environment, despite the best efforts of its members. This is done by dividing the homeland security duties into two distinct missions: an incremental or "systemic mission" and a disruptive or "future shock mission." The current institutional model is seemingly well adapted to respond to the needs of the first mission but ineffective to address the second. Lastly, the article proposes a new homeland security institutional model, better adapted to confront the negative effects of disruption by fostering and harnessing the positive ones. This is accomplished by adapting Alvin Toffler's concept of "adhocracy" to homeland security's needs and using DARPA as an example of a successful "adhocratic" and disruptive security and defense institution.

Routing Hazardous Materials around the District of Columbia Area

by Lee D. Han

Journal of Transportation Safety & Security (2009) 1(4):296-313
with Shih-Miao CHIN, Holing HWANG, Bruce E. PETERSON, and Charles CHIN

The recent hazardous material (hazmat) shipment ban in Washington, D.C., has led to debates, legal challenges, and... more The recent hazardous material (hazmat) shipment ban in Washington, D.C., has led to debates, legal challenges, and considerations by other major cities to pursue similar actions. This article presents a methodology for evaluating hazmat shipment routing options on railroad networks under situations such as the shipment ban. A case study involving three alternatives is presented. Population and other vulnerable people within a 0.8 km (or 0.5 mile) radius buffer zone along the rail line are used to evaluate the potential risk associated with ultra-hazardous material (i.e., explosives, flammable gasses, poisonous gasses, and poisonous materials) shipments. Based on this study, it is concluded that moderate increases in ton-km, and subsequently time in transit, will be a result from the rerouting. On the other hand, the overall population at risk will see a reduction. The population-at-risk burden, however, is simply shifted from one location to other locations. This article also identifies areas for potential follow-up efforts.

Versorgungspolitik und -sicherheit im Kontext globaler Risiken und Interessen

by Myriam Dunn Cavelty

Bulletin zur Schweizerischen Sicherheitspolitik 2011, pp. 9-35 (co-authored with Jonas Hagmann and Andreas Wenger)

Moderne Industriestaaten sind auf den ungestörten Zugang zu globalen Ressourcen, leistungsfähigen Infrastrukturen und... more Moderne Industriestaaten sind auf den ungestörten Zugang zu globalen Ressourcen, leistungsfähigen Infrastrukturen und sicheren Handelswegen angewiesen. Aufgabe des Staates ist es daher, im Verbund mit der Privatwirtschaft schweren Störungen der wirtschaftlichen Landesversorgung vorzubeugen. Die Fokussierung der Sicherheitspolitik auf transnationale und schwer erfassbare Risiken, die globale Interessenlage der Schweiz, aber auch dynamisierte wirtschaftliche Liefer- und Produktionsansätze erfordern heute eine Neuausrichtung der Schweizer Versorgungspolitik. Der Beitrag zeigt, wie der Paradigmenwechsel weg von der Sicherheits- hin zu der Risikologik die Landesversorgung zunehmend von reaktiven Interventionen weg- und zu präventiven Ansätzen hinbewegt. Institutionell verweisen die politischen und wirtschaftlichen Entwicklungen auf die Notwendigkeit, die Landesversorgung stärker an der Schnittstelle zwischen Wirtschaftspolitik, Aussenpolitik und Sicherheitspolitik einzubetten.

Les alliances nord-américaines dans le cadre de la Homeland Security : le cas du Mexique

by Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez

actes doctoriales

Preventing the Next 9/10: The Homeland Security Challenges of Technological Evolution and Convergence in the Next Ten Years

by Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez

Rodrigo Nieto-Gómez looks at the innovation process that drives the technology sector and how the convergence of... more Rodrigo Nieto-Gómez looks at the innovation process that drives the technology sector and how the convergence of technology made 9/11 possible. He also explores the difficulties that technology convergence poses for homeland security professionals. “This retrospective distortion creates a security ecosystem where homeland security practitioners feel pressured to try to ‘connect the dots’ every time, instead of adapting to an environment of emerging patterns and mutating dots that cannot be connected.”

L'émergence d'une politique de sécurité du territoire national au Mexique: comment expliquer la stratégie de Felipe Calderón

by Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez

Is security “civilising”, as argued by Loader and Walker?

by Sebastiano Sali

e-IR

L’énigme de la Homeland Security pour l’Administration Obama : quel scénario pour la sécurité et l’administration des frontières ?

by Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez

De tous les éléments composant la doctrine du Homeland Security, qui a comme objectif primordial la protection du... more De tous les éléments composant la doctrine du Homeland Security, qui a comme objectif primordial la protection du territoire états-unien contre toute menace et en particulier contre la menace du terrorisme transfrontalier, la sécurité frontalière est celui qui illustre le mieux le type de paradoxes que le président Obama et le secrétaire de ce département, Janet Napolitano, devront affronter. Le concept de sécurité frontalière a permis de fusionner toutes les agences qui s’occupent de la frontière dans une seule entité et les a regroupées selon un critère géographique, la zone frontalière. Ainsi, il a créé un lien discursif et administratif direct entre la menace terroriste transfrontalière et l’immigration économique, qui entre en contradiction avec la tonalité des discours du nouveau président et qui a un impact négatif sur la population américaine d’origine « latino ». Ce groupe a en effet vécu directement les conséquences de ce durcissement de la politique de sécurité des frontières et de la montée en puissance d’un discours qui voit dans chaque immigrant (avec ou sans papiers) un « terroriste en puissance ».Toutefois, ce discours n’est pas non plus simple à abandonner complètement, en raison du risque stratégique des nouveaux attentats terroristes et du risque pour le présidentObama d’être perçu comme laxiste en matière de sécurité.

Les conséquences géopolitiques pour le Mexique de la politique états-unienne de Homeland Security

by Rodrigo Nieto-Gomez

Depuis les années 1990, le gouvernement mexicain a conduit une politique destinée à « ancrer » le Mexique à l’Amérique... more Depuis les années 1990, le gouvernement mexicain a conduit une politique destinée à « ancrer » le Mexique à l’Amérique du Nord. L’ALENA avait, sans doute, entériné ce basculement vers le nord. Cependant, les attentats terroristes du 11 septembre 2001 ont ébranlé ce dessein. C’est pourquoi, depuis 2002, le Mexique participe activement avec les États-Unis et le Canada à la mise en place d’un dispositif à l’échelle du continent, afin de appliquer à l’ensemble de l’hémisphère Nord, les principes de la Homeland Security. Cela présente tout une série de défis pour la géopolitique de la région et en particulier pour le Mexique, concernant les frontières, la protection stratégique du territoire, la migration et la politique énergétique du continent.

Common criteria for the assessment of critical infrastructures

by Alexander Fekete

International Journal of Disaster Risk Science. 2/2011: 15-24 Volume 2, Number 1, 15-24, DOI: 10.1007/s13753-011-0002-y

Society is reliant on infrastructure services, such
as information and communication technology, energy, water,... more Society is reliant on infrastructure services, such
as information and communication technology, energy, water,
and food supply, but also on governmental, cultural, and
search and rescue organizations. The goal of project Kritis-
KAT at the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster
Assistance in Germany is the development of generic criteria
for the identification and evaluation of infrastructures regarded
as “critical” for society. Acknowledging that full protection
against all threats and cascading effects is not possible, the
approach focuses on the impacts rather than the prevention
of threats. The development of generic criteria requires the
prioritization of infrastructures and identification of their key
characteristics for civil protection purposes, risk management
activities, and strategic proactive planning. For this purpose,
the development of a national critical infrastructure priority
inventory is based on a thorough examination of the range of
criteria typically used in similar approaches. The specific focus
of this paper is to identify and simplify essential characteristics
of infrastructure criticality. The main outcome of this study is
the development of common criteria generally applicable to a
variety of infrastructures.

Fortress of Fear and Borders of Control: How the US Media Constructs Mexican Immigrants As a National Security Threat

by Chris Crews

Community Policing, Homeland Security and Terrorism

by Stephen A. Morreale

Published in Law Enforcement Executive Forum

Abstract
As communities and public safety agencies begin to prepare their communities to deal with potential... more Abstract
As communities and public safety agencies begin to prepare their communities to deal with potential terrorist or bio-terrorist threats, there are lessons that have been learned for several community policing models that can be effectively drawn upon for better implementation.

The recent ramp-up efforts by federal and state government are reminiscent of the staging for Civil Defense in the 1960’s. As a result of 9/11, there has been an invigoration for cities and towns to develop response plans for any localized terrorist incidents. The safety of the public is important and falls to government agencies.

Community policing is intended to encourage community input and involvement. As communities and our country attempts to put safeguards in place and raise awareness, the community, community and business leaders, and neighborhood groups should be enlisted to assist. The tenets of community policing can be utilized to plan and engage the community in this endeavor.

Collective Behavior in the Oklahoma City Bombing

by Brian Crisan

Written for a Disaster Victims: Casualties and Recovery course, University of Akron, Spring 2010 semester

This paper is an analysis of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. In... more This paper is an analysis of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City on April 19, 1995. In particular, collective behavior is analyzed by examining the response by emergency responders, evacuation and convergence theory, and the psychological effects/crisis intervention efforts that occurred as a result of the bombing.

Aryan Nations: A Case Study of Domestic Terrorism by White Supremacists

by Brian Crisan

Written for an Introduction to Terrorism course, University of Akron, Fall 2010 semester

This paper discusses the hate group known as Aryan Nations. In particular, this paper seeks to examine a variety of... more This paper discusses the hate group known as Aryan Nations. In particular, this paper seeks to examine a variety of aspects of Aryan Nations, including: the influence of the Christian Identity movement on the group, the history of the group and its founder, and the activities of the group that qualify as domestic terrorism. General concepts relevant to the recruiting strategies used by hate groups are also discussed.

Topic-based social network analysis for virtual communities of interests in the Dark Web

by Gaston L'Huillier

In ACM SIGKDD Workshop on Intelligence and Security Informatics (ISI-KDD '10). ACM, New York, NY, USA

The study of extremist groups and their interaction is a crucial task in order to maintain homeland security and... more The study of extremist groups and their interaction is a crucial task in order to maintain homeland security and peace. Tools such as social networks analysis and text mining have contributed to the understanding of this kind of groups in order to develop counter-terrorism applications. This work addresses the topic-based community key members extraction problem, for which our method combines both text mining and social network analysis techniques. This is achieved by first applying latent Dirichlet allocation to build two topic-based social networks: one social network oriented towards the thread creator point-of-view, and the other one oriented towards the repliers of the overall forum. Then, by using different Social Network Analysis measures, topic-based key members are evaluated using as benchmark a social network built using the plain documents. Experiments were performed using an English language based forum available in the Dark Web portal.

Topic-based Social Network Analysis for Virtual Communities of Interests in the Dark Web

by Gaston L'Huillier

SIGKDD Explor. Newsl. 12, 2 (March 2011), 66-73.

The study of extremist groups and their interaction is a crucial task in order to maintain homeland security and... more The study of extremist groups and their interaction is a crucial task in order to maintain homeland security and peace. Tools such as social networks analysis and text mining have contributed to their understanding in order to develop counter-terrorism applications. This work addresses the topic-based community key-members extraction problem, for which our method combines both text mining and social network analysis techniques. This is achieved by first applying latent Dirichlet allocation to build two topic-based social networks in online forums: one social network oriented towards the thread creator point-of-view, and the other is oriented towards the repliers of the overall forum. Then, by using different network analysis measures, topic-based key members are evaluated using as benchmark a social network built a plain representation of the network of posts. Experiments were successfully performed using an English language based forum available in the Dark Web portal.