HLSS502Wk8

Future Issues in Homeland Security/Homeland Defense

In addi�on to your readings this week, I hope that you reflect on all that you have read and learned from the lessons, in order for you to develop a comprehensive view of both homeland security and homeland defense. As it may be said in the educa�onal parlance, the intent this week is for you to take all the informa�on and knowledge you have gained in this class, and add that to your personal experiences whereby you may synthesize a new future model of homeland security that will have greater efficacy and efficiency.

Hopefully at this point in the course you have come to realize that homeland security is a complex issue. O�en, when one thinks of the term, homeland security, they focus to the issue of terrorism as that is the nexus that led to the development of the Department of Homeland Security, and which served as the primary focus of the DHS for its early years. However, Hurricane Katrina served to show that the na�on could suffer devasta�on from natural disasters and that the ability to respond to those events was an essen�al element of homeland security.

With further reflec�on, one may look beyond the issue of terrorism and see border control as an element of homeland security. However, what is border control? Many quickly recognize the interdic�on of illegal immigrants and drugs as border control issues, but border control is a much larger issue. There is a need to prevent the exporta�on of smuggled goods just as there is for the impor�ng of those goods. These goods could be counterfeit consumer goods or human trafficked people.

Just as the issue of homeland security is a complex one with many stakeholders, so too is the homeland security enterprise that seeks to create a secure homeland. The enterprise includes both public and private sectors that, at �mes, may have compe�ng objec�ves. An example of such a conflict, can be seen in the movement of goods in the global transporta�on system. The private sector seeks to have maximum produc�vity with the goods moving through the system with minimal to no delay. On the security side, there is a need to ensure that the goods are legi�mate and pose no danger to the na�on, which requires controls and inspec�ons within the supply chain.