Homeland security

For the United States Cabinet department, see United States Department of Homeland Security.

For the NBC television movie, see Homeland Security (film).

Homeland security is an umbrella term for security efforts to protect the United States against perceived internal and external threats. The term arose following a reorganization of many U.S. government agencies in 2003 to form the United States Department of Homeland Security after the September 11 attacks, and may be used to refer to the actions of that department. The term is currently not in use in any other countries.

In the United States

In the United States, the concept of "homeland security" extends and recombines responsibilities of several government agencies and entities, including the United States National Guard, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the United States Coast Guard, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the United States Secret Service, the Transportation Security Administration, and Civil Air Patrol.

The George W. Bush administration consolidated many of these activities under the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS), a new cabinet department established as a result of the Homeland Security Act of 2002. However, much of the nation's homeland security activity remains outside of DHS; for example, the FBI and CIA are not part of the Department, and other agencies such as the Department of Defense and Department of Health and Human Services play a significant role in certain aspects of homeland security. Homeland security is coordinated at the White House by the Homeland Security Council, currently headed by John Brennan.

Homeland security is officially defined by the National Strategy for Homeland Security as "a concerted national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the United States, reduce America's vulnerability to terrorism, and minimize the damage and recover from attacks that do occur". Because the U.S. Department of Homeland Security includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it also has responsibility for preparedness, response, and recovery to natural disasters.

The term became prominent in the United States following the September 11, 2001 attacks; it had been used only in limited policy circles prior to these attacks. The phrase "security of the American homeland" appears in the 1998 report Catastrophic Terrorism: Elements of a National Policy by Ashton B. Carter, John M. Deutch, and Philip D. Zelikow.

Homeland security is also usually used to connote the civilian aspect of this effort; "homeland defense" refers to its military component, led chiefly by the U.S. Northern Command headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

The scope of homeland security includes:

• Emergency preparedness and response (for both terrorism and natural disasters), including volunteer medical, police, emergency management, and fire personnel;
• Domestic intelligence activities, largely today within the FBI;
• Critical infrastructure protection;
• Border security, including both land and maritime borders;
• Transportation security, including aviation and maritime transportation;
• Biodefense;
• Detection of radioactive and radiological materials;
• Research on next-generation security technologies.

Criticism

Conflicts exist between bodies of international law (ratified by the United States or not) and those applied under "homeland security". One example is the notion of an unlawful combatant. The United States government has created a new status that would exclude prisoners captured by a military force from coverage under the Geneva Convention. While the United States has only been a signatory to portions of the Geneva Convention, much international law is based upon it.

See also

• Airport Nigger
• Civil defense
• High policing
• Infrastructure security
• Port security
• Supply chain security
• Terrorism in the United States
• Texas Virtual Border Watch

Further reading

• United States. Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives. (2008). Compilation of homeland security presidential directives (HSPD) [110th Congress, 2nd Session. Committee Print 110-B]. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office.

External links

• Homeland Security from UCB Libraries GovPubs
• Rudy Giuliani, 'The Resilient Society,' City Journal, Winter 2008
• U.S. National Strategy for Homeland Security
• Homeland Security: A Selected Bibliography
• Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports on homeland security
• Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports on homeland security
• Comprehensive homeland security links (USAF Air War College site)
• Canadian Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness
• Homeland Security Institute Weekly Bulletin
• Naval Postgraduage Center for Homeland Defense and Security
• Homeland Security Newswire - News Wire Publications