| | |  | | Home » Homeland Security and Terrorism: Readings and Interpretations (The Mcgraw-Hill Homeland Security Series) | | | | | | | Product Promotions: | | | | | Description: | | The McGraw-Hill Homeland Security Series draws on frontline government, military, and business experts to detail what individuals and businesses can and must do to understand and move forward in this challenging new environment. Books in this timely and noteworthy series will cover everything from the balance between freedom and safety to strategies for protection of intellectual, business, and personal property to structures and goals of terrorist groups including Al-Qaeda. Homeland Security and Terrorism is a comprehensive collection of essays and articles addressing the problems and solutions of maintaining openness and freedom in American society, while providing protection against future terrorist incidents. Noted contributors including former Oklahoma governor Frank Keating discuss relevant matters from the changing relationships and responsibilities among government, industry, and private citizens to strategies for minimizing tensions between establishing defensive measures and the financial and societal costs of those matters. | | | Product Details: | | | Author:
| Russell D. Howard | | Paperback:
| 400 pages | | Publisher:
| McGraw-Hill | | Publication Date:
| August 16, 2005 | | Language:
| English | | ISBN:
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1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Textbook AdvantageJul 31, 2010
By Hal
This book is an authority, from many in the know.
Complete in it's coverage of the many areas we should study and act on.
Highly recommended.
1 of 1 found the following review helpful:
A broad, academically useful summary of the issuesMar 22, 2008
By Mark S. Hewitt
Academic homeland security programs are proliferating more rapidly than quality writing to support them. Among other challenges for faculty preparing homeland security courses, the difficulty of finding a comprehensive survey text that fairly and faithfully opens the core issues to students is particularly acute. Works that explicitly link threat and vulnerability to government policy and programs are also hard to come by. The publication of Homeland Security and Terrorism: Readings and Interpretations helps to resolve these shortcomings.
Third in a series that began with Terrorism and Counterterrorism: Understanding the New Security Environment and Defeating Terrorism: Shaping the New Security Environment, this new text was compiled by editors affiliated with the Combating Terrorism Center at the United States Military Academy at West Point. U.S. Army Brigadier General (Ret.) Russell Howard, a career Special Forces officer, headed the Department of Social Sciences at West Point and is completing and Ph.D. in international security studies at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. Dr. James Forest, an assistant professor at West Point, is the director of terrorism studies there. Major Joanne Moore, a career U.S. Army officer, recently served as an assistant professor of political science at West Point.
As with its predecessors, Homeland Security and Terrorism is intended for the classroom, and this survey approach works well for that purpose. To their credit, the editors have assembled diverse expertise on the issues. Contributors range from military officers, to social scientists, policy analysts, scientists, politicians, attorneys, and senior civil servants. This diversity in perspective shows in the work and itself advances an important pedagogical point: homeland security challenges are diverse, complex, and interdisciplinary. Some papers were prepared for this volume; others are culled from previously published works. Most are of high quality in both analysis and writing.
Because of the diversity of issues to be reviewed, the editors faced no small task in assembling a representative sampling of quality contributions in a single volume. They mostly succeed. Their text surveys a broad range of issues, trading depth of analysis for breadth of coverage. Using a common-sense approach to organizing the issues, the editors present thirty chapters in five sections. The editors provide a brief but useful introduction to each of these sections, establishing the context for the chapters and tying them in to the larger theme of the text.
Logically, the first of these sections introduces the nature of the threat, covered in six detailed chapters. In the first, Russ Howard, an editor, usefully distinguishes the characteristics that make contemporary terrorists more dangerous than their predecessors, establishing the right context for chapters that follow. In Chapter 3, Rand analyst John Parachini provides an iconoclastic analysis of terrorist access to and use of weapons of mass destruction, arguing on page 39 that "inordinate attention on the comparatively unique challenges of coping with unconventional weapons draws scarce resources away from the more basic but essential activities of law enforcement, intelligence, border and customs control, diplomacy, and military action."
In Chapter 5 Bruce Hoffman, also of Rand, describes the chilling logic of suicide terrorism. Hoffman recounts the increasing use of suicide terror attacks, which began in Lebanon in 1983 and came into widespread practice in Israel during the second intifada in September 2000, emphasizing his firsthand discussions with Israeli authorities wrestling with suicide bombers. Hoffman argues the logic of suicide terrorism is found in its unique power to trigger horror and revulsion among societies who regard such wanton disregard for human life as supremely illogical.
Drawing on a comprehensive data suicide terrorist attacks from 1980 to 2001 (which he includes in his text), Robert Pape of the University of Chicago uses Chapter 6 to present a typology and analysis of suicide attacks. He concludes on page 72 that suicide terrorism is strategic in the sense that such attacks "occur in clusters as part of a larger campaign by an organized group to achieve a specific political goal," and that suicide attacks are specifically designed to coerce modern democracies. Pape argues that because suicide terrorism relies on the threat to inflict low to medium levels of punishment on civilians, highly ambitious suicide terrorist campaigns are not likely to achieve great gains and are more likely to fail completely.
The second section focuses on specific areas of vulnerability in homeland security. The eight chapters in this section consider selected vulnerabilities to transportation, borders, and critical infrastructure. Professor Joseph Szyliowicz of the University of Denver recounts the complexities of improving aviation security in Chapter 7. Brian Jenkins of Rand describes in Chapter 8 public surface transportation as a uniquely attractive target for terrorism, given the psychological and economic implications of a successful attack. Bombings against buses, subways, and trains represent the most prevalent mode and target of such attacks from 1920 through 2000, Jenkins shows. Jenkins' analysis of the policy implications is unique and persuasive. He argues that, because of differences in threats, consequences of attack, security possibilities, and economies of the two modes, the commercial aviation model of security cannot be applied to surface transportation. Deterrence and prevention are less effective for surface transportation, Jenkins argues on page 136, meaning that the security emphasis must be shifted to "mitigation through station and vehicle design, quick diagnosis of threats, prompt intervention, and rapid response."
In Chapter 11 Larry Wortzel of the Heritage Foundation provides a comprehensive description of the practical challenges facing the Department of Homeland Security in protecting the nation's critical infrastructure with recommendations on how best to clarify public- and private-sector roles. Claudia Copeland and Betsy Cody, both of the Congressional Research Service, discuss in Chapter 13 the terrorism and security issues associated with water infrastructure. This chapter is an excellent source of authoritative data on the issue and presents a fine assessment of the current security situation and its historical antecedents. Because this chapter was originally published as a CRS report for Congress, the presentation of policy issues is crisp and broadly accessible. Section Two ends with a short but informative chapter from Barbara Bruemmer, a lecturer in the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Washington in Seattle. Bruemmer provides background and insight on the issue of bioterrorism and the nation's food supply, an important issue on which academic writing is in short supply.
The contributors to the third section of Homeland Security and Terrorism relate how government at the federal, state, and local levels are attempting to organize and manage programs to address the threats and vulnerabilities to the homeland described in the first two sections. Louise Comfort, a professor in the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Pittsburgh begins in Chapter 15 with an exploration of individual, organizational, and collective learning in environments of risk. She proposes a model, auto-adaptation, for explaining and predicting the behavior individuals and organizations during crises. John Sullivan, a sergeant with the Los Angeles Sherriff's Department describes the success of Terrorism Early Warning Groups in providing public safety agencies with a cooperative means for obtaining and assessing the information needed to manage terrorist attacks.
In Chapter 17 Reid Sawyer an U.S. Army Military Intelligence officer and Joseph Pfeifer, the chief of planning and strategy at the New York City Fire Department recount key lessons learned from the 9/11 fire response. Originally published in this volume, their chapter is a particularly useful contribution to the crisis management literature, providing a novel framework for organizational adaptation before crises that enables rapid adaptation to and innovation in crises with unanticipated dimensions. Though their analysis emphasizes New York firefighter experiences on 9/11, Sawyer and Pfeifer's recommendations are widely applicable.
In Chapter 19 Seth Jones of Rand argues that key shortcomings have severely undercut the ability of the Secretary of Homeland Security's ability to perform his most important function, synthesizing homeland security intelligence and coordinating communications with state and local governments, the private sector, and the American people about threats and preparedness. These shortcomings are primarily associated with failing to provide the necessary authorities to the Department of Homeland Security for information analysis, and the ongoing reluctance of FBI and CIA to hand over counterterrorism and intelligence responsibilities to the new department.
Another fine addition in this section - and perhaps the best chapter in the book - is Chapter 20, contributed by Chris Hornbarger, an U.S. Army officer and instructor at West Point with experience working on the White House Homeland Security Council staff. In assessing the current state of U.S. homeland security strategy through a thorough analysis of key policy documents, Hornbarger draws several conclusions. He argues that homeland security institutions remain immature and that homeland and national security strategy must be fused. He argues that current U.S. National Strategy for Homeland Security is sound and provides a useful framework for the activities of all government agencies, not just the Department of Homeland Security. Finally, he argues that the results of current strategy and policy have been generally positive, and the exceptions illustrate the areas on which the nation's leaders should focus their attention in making marginal improvements.
The fourth section of the text focuses on arguably the most important long-term homeland security issue: balancing public security with civil liberties. Amanda Dory of the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Homeland Defense provides the first contribution in Chapter 21, arguing that the United States could benefit from a civil security program, modeled on the Cold War-era civil defense programs. A focused, well-managed civil security program would make the American public more resilient to terrorist attack through public education programs, organizational expertise, and material resources.
Two contributions discuss the role of the media in homeland security. In the first, James Robbins, a professor at National Defense University, shows in Chapter 22 how terrorists formulate media strategy, manipulating the free press in democratic societies to achieve their objectives. Robbins also shows the result, tracking media coverage of terrorist events, showing how even less-spectacular attacks (he uses the example of the 2002 D.C. snipers) can create an intense media response. In Chapter 23 Beth Robbins a media relations officer in the U.S. Army and a West Point instructor, provides practical advice for government officials in designing and executing a media strategy for terrorist attacks.
Chapters 24, 25, and 26 provide a superb discussion on one of the more contentious homeland security initiatives, the USA PATRIOT Act. Passed by wide, bi-partisan margins in both the House and the Senate by October 24, 2001 and signed immediately into law by the president, the Act expanded the information-gathering powers available to law enforcement officials. In Chapter 24 Nancy Chang, the senior litigation attorney at the Center for Constitutional Rights, claims these expanded powers represent nothing less than an attack on the Bill of Rights. On page 369 she argues that the Act "sacrifices our political freedoms in the name of national security and upsets the democratic values that define our nation by consolidating vast new powers in the executive branch of government."
In Chapter 25 Brian Hook, an advisor to the International Law and American Sovereignty Project at the Department of Justice and his co-authors argue that the intelligence and information sharing failures that were noted with such dismay following 9/11 cannot be corrected without the provisions of the PATRIOT Act. Moreover, they argue that the Act ensures more responsible and active judicial and congressional oversight of law enforcement and intelligence activities, and that the sunset clause that applies to many of the surveillance provisions of the bill make it possible for government officials to reverse its key provisions if necessary.
Roger Golden, an official at Maxwell Air Force Base argues in Chapter 26 that America will naturally shift toward an emphasis on security during times of national stress and back again toward civil liberties when that stress diminishes. Though the PATRIOT Act represents a shift toward security, U.S. officials must maintain the flexibility to shift back again once the period of national emergency has passed.
The final section of the text describes lessons learned for homeland security from previous experiences with calamity. Of the section's four chapters, one focuses on telecommunications matters while three focus on biological emergencies. The first, Chapter 27, is contributed by Randolph May, the director of communications policy studies at the Progress and Freedom Foundation. May draws on the cases of communications blackouts during 9/11 and those that followed the Northeast blackout of 2003 to conclude the importance of providing truly redundant communications networks. Despite this clear need, he argues, many federal agencies still do not prioritize redundancy in the design of agency telecommunications systems.
In Chapter 28, Vincent Covello, the director of the Center for Risk Communication, and his co-authors examine the case of the West Nile virus epidemic in the late summer of 1999, drawing conclusions for communications challenges attending a biological attack. The authors compare the relative merits of four risk communication theoretical models as the basis for their analysis, comparing theory to practice in the New York City response to the outbreak. They conclude with insights and recommendations for emergency planners. Kelly Hicks, a retired U.S. Army officer and global head of crisis management at Goldman Sachs and Company, uses Chapter 29 to draw on lessons from the global financial industry's response to the SARS virus outbreak in 2003.
Finally, in Chapter 30 Thomas Glass, a professor and physician at Johns Hopkins University, and his co-author Monica Schoch-Spana, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh's School of Medicine, make recommendations on how to "vaccinate" a city against panic during a bioterrorism attack. Drawing upon previous crises in New York City and Washington, D.C., the authors argue that the public can be enlisted as a reliable partner in the response, that their panic is controllable, and that good information and trust in public health professionals and government officials is the key to success.
Among the other virtues of Homeland Security and Terrorism is the diversity of its authors: the federal, state, and local perspectives, combined with views from academic and private firms are especially useful in helping students appreciate the complexity of homeland security challenges and the importance of an inclusive approach to resolving them.
Minor organizational difficulties are an annoyance. Author names are not provided alongside chapter titles in the table of contents. Instead, biographical information about contributors is organized sequentially in the order of their articles, clustered in paragraphs pertaining to individual entries, complicating a quick search for details about a particular author. The linkages between particular authors are found in the descriptive text of the preface and to chapter title pages. The original citations of each contribution are quite clear, however, provided in the preface.
Two useful appendices are included. The first lists chronologically the key national strategy documents, presidential policy directives, and executive orders related to homeland security since 9/11. The second provides a summary of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. An excellent bibliography, with entries primarily covering the 1995 to 2002 time frame is provided, and the index is sufficiently comprehensive.
Of course, many of the issues at the core of government homeland security efforts are controversial, going to the heart of American traditions of security, liberty, and public policy. These issues include, among others, the myriad challenges posed by American citizens as enemy combatants, the comparative merits of government intervention in private markets to reduce vulnerabilities, the disposition of command and control authority to federal and local governments in an emergency response, and the application of military force for support to civil authorities and homeland defense missions. Many of these issues are addressed in the text, yet, as would be expected in such a compendium, some receive superficial treatment.
Moreover, an instructor using Homeland Security and Terrorism as the core text in a course might regard the lack of direct debate among contributors on such controversies as a shortcoming. An exception is the three contributions on the USA PATRIOT Act, though none of these chapters correlates directly to the others in a point-by-point exchange. As a result, Homeland Security and Terrorism could serve well as the core text for either undergraduate survey courses or an in-depth graduate course on homeland security, but in either case the instructor will require supplementary readings. The breadth of Homeland Security and Terrorism also offers considerable utility to instructors teaching courses in other related areas - intelligence, emergency preparedness, and national security policy making spring immediately to mind - who may wish to augment their own core readings. The relatively low cost of the text is also a plus for students.
0 of 1 found the following review helpful:
 Required for Doctoral ClassFeb 12, 2010
By Randall W. Hanifen
The book is slow to take shape, but lends a great deal of information from a wide variety of experts both at the field level and the strategic level
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