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Homeland security is an American national security term for "the national effort to ensure a homeland that is safe, secure, and resilient against
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
and other hazards where American interests, aspirations, and ways of life can thrive" to the "national effort to prevent terrorist attacks within the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
, reduce the vulnerability of the U.S. to terrorism, and minimize the damage from attacks that do occur." According to an official work published by the Congressional Research Service in 2013, the "Homeland security" term's definition has varied over time. Homeland security is not constrained to terrorist incidents. Terrorism is violent, criminal acts committed by individuals and/or groups to further ideological goals stemming from influences, such as those of a political, religious, social, racial, or environmental nature. Within the US, an all-hazards approach exists regarding homeland security endeavors. In this sense, homeland security encompasses both natural disasters and man-made events. Thus, the domain of homeland security must accommodate a plethora of situations and scenarios, ranging from natural disasters (e.g., Hurricane Katrina, Irma) to acts of terrorism (e.g., Boston Marathon bombing,
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
). The term came about following enactment of the Homeland Security Act of 2002 and reorganization of many U.S. government civil agencies effective March 1, 2003, to form the United States Department of Homeland Security after the September 11 attacks, and may refer to the actions of that department, the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs, or the United States House of Representatives Committee on Homeland Security. The term, "Homeland Security" is not to be confused with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS). In its February 15, 2001 report, the U.S. Commission on National Security/21st Century, said the United States must change how it operates in the area of homeland security. The report recommended the creation of what was ultimately called the Department of Homeland Security." DHS was formed by the Homeland security Act of 2002. The term, homeland security, is not the same as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). DHS is an executive branch agency. The Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and the House Committee on Homeland Security are both legislative bodies, and thus are clearly distinct from the executive agency, DHS. The actions of these two legislative bodies are not the same as actions of DHS.
Homeland defense Homeland defense (HD) is the protection of a territory, sovereignty, domestic population, and critical infrastructure against external threats and aggression. (Definition will be incorporated into JP 3-26Definition deferred to ''Homeland Defense, J ...
(HD) is the military protection of U.S. territory, sovereignty, domestic population, and critical infrastructure against external threats and aggression.


Definition

"Despite the ublisheddefinition, mission statement, and vision ll of which have changed since 9/11 there is no consensus among practitioners and the public as to what the term Homeland Security actually means. Different groups view it differently. The extremes of opinion are represented, for the narrow view, by those who feel homeland security is only about terrorism. They believe focusing on anything additional dilutes, distracts, and weakens the homeland security mission." Others say its focus is terrorism and natural disasters. Still others claim homeland security is about 'all hazards' (terrorism, man-made disasters, and natural disasters). To some, homeland security is focused on 'jurisdictional hazards' (i.e. homeland security means different things to different jurisdictions depending upon that jurisdiction's particular hazards, risks, and level of preparedness). Examples of some of the jurisdictional hazards include hurricanes, tornados, flooding, and earthquakes. At the other extreme, the broad view of homeland security advocates that homeland security is about everything – that it implicates almost every sector."


In the United States

In the United States, the concept of "Homeland Security" extends and recombines responsibilities of government agencies and entities. According to Homeland security research, the U.S. federal Homeland Security and
Homeland Defense Homeland defense (HD) is the protection of a territory, sovereignty, domestic population, and critical infrastructure against external threats and aggression. (Definition will be incorporated into JP 3-26Definition deferred to ''Homeland Defense, J ...
includes 187 federal agencies and departments, including the National Guard of the United States, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the
United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, m ...
, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the
United States Secret Service The United States Secret Service (USSS or Secret Service) is a federal law enforcement agency under the Department of Homeland Security charged with conducting criminal investigations and protecting U.S. political leaders, their families, and ...
, the Transportation Security Administration, the 14 agencies that constitute the U.S. intelligence community and Civil Air Patrol. Although many businesses now operate in the area of homeland security, it is overwhelmingly a government function. 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 The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gathering, processing, ...
are not part of the Department, and other executive departments such as the
Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philipp ...
and United States Department of Health and Human Services and they play a significant role in certain aspects of homeland security. Homeland security is coordinated at the
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in ...
by the Adviser to the President for National Security and the Adviser to the President for Terrorism and Homeland Security. The staff of the National Security Council manages policy integration of National Security and Homeland Security. 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 Department of Homeland Security includes the Federal Emergency Management Agency, it also has responsibility for preparedness, response, and recovery to natural disasters. According to the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Homeland Security Research Corporation, DHS Homeland security funding constitutes about 20-21% of the consolidated U.S. Homeland Security - Homeland Defense funding, while approximately 40% of the DHS budget funds civil, non-security activities, such as the U.S. coast guard search and rescue operations and customs functions. The U.S. Homeland Security is the world's largest Homeland counter terror organization, having 40% of the global fiscal year homeland security funding. The term became prominent in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
following the
September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
; 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
Ash Carter Ashton Baldwin Carter (September 24, 1954 – October 24, 2022) was an American government official and academic who served as the 25th United States Secretary of Defense from February 2015 to January 2017. He later served as director of the B ...
,
John M. Deutch John Mark Deutch (born July 27, 1938) is an American physical chemist and civil servant. He was the United States Deputy Secretary of Defense from 1994 to 1995 and Director of Central Intelligence (DCI) from May 10, 1995 until December 15, 199 ...
, and
Philip D. Zelikow Philip David Zelikow (; born September 21, 1954) is an American diplomat, academic and author. He has worked as the executive director of the 9/11 Commission, director of the Miller Center of Public Affairs at the University of Virginia, and Coun ...
. 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 United States Northern Command, which is 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 The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...
, emergency management, and
fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition point, flames ...
personnel; * Domestic and International intelligence activities, largely today within the FBI; * Critical infrastructure, including physical/perimeter and cyber protection; * Investigation of people making and distributing
child pornography Child pornography (also called CP, child sexual abuse material, CSAM, child porn, or kiddie porn) is pornography that unlawfully exploits children for sexual stimulation. It may be produced with the direct involvement or sexual assault of a ...
; * Border control, including land, maritime and country borders (also known as Ports of Entry (PoEs). Border management has two key goals: facilitating the flow of legitimate trade and traveling, while ensuring legitimate immigration; * Transportation and logistics security, including aviation, maritime, and land transportation; As higher volumes of cargoes are processed at the borders each year, security risks also increase. In fact, illegitimate entities such as money laundering, drug trafficking, contraband and human trafficking cartels strategically select busy ports of entry and high traffic times, seeking to penetrate the borders; *
Biodefense Biodefense refers to measures to restore biosecurity to a group of organisms who are, or may be, subject to biological threats or infectious diseases. Biodefense is frequently discussed in the context of biowar or bioterrorism, and is generall ...
; * Detection of
radioactive Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is consi ...
and radiological materials; * Research on next-generation security technologies. * Investigation on Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCOs) involved in human trafficking, drug trafficking, contraband, money laundering, extortion;


Criticism

Conflicts exist between bodies of
international law International law (also known as public international law and the law of nations) is the set of rules, norms, and standards generally recognized as binding between states. It establishes normative guidelines and a common conceptual framework for ...
(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 addresses prisoners captured by a military force who do not conform with the conditions of the Convention. While the United States has only been a signatory to portions of the
Geneva Conventions upright=1.15, Original document in single pages, 1864 The Geneva Conventions are four treaties, and three additional protocols, that establish international legal standards for humanitarian treatment in war. The singular term ''Geneva Conv ...
, much international law is based upon it.


As a field of study

Shortly after the September 11 attacks, Homeland security also took off as an up-and-coming academic field with a number of schools in the United States offering Academic certificate and degree programs in Homeland Security. The field is often studied alongside emergency management due to their similar nature and purposes. With the relatively sudden growth of the field, the quality of the programs vary greatly from one to another along with their respective accreditation statuses (or lack thereof). In a partial effort to combat these variations, the
International Association of Emergency Managers The International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) is a non-profit organization, dedicated to promoting the profession of emergency management by working with its membership to promote the goals of saving lives and protecting property dur ...
offers a scholarship program with the aim of nurturing, promoting and developing disaster preparedness and resistance by furthering the education of students studying the fields of emergency management, disaster management or related programs such as Homeland Security. Homeland Security is often thought of as a specifically United States term referring to the role of the United States' reformed national security infrastructure beginning in 2003. However, neither the term nor the concept of Homeland Security are specific to the United States. Though terminology varies, an equivalent might be seen in Israel's Ministry of Public Security. Within Homeland Security as an academic field, Homeland Security is sometimes studied in a comparative context by scholars of comparative politics or criminal justice. For example, the British political scientist Paul Wilkinson edited and contributed to a textbook on Homeland Security policy and practice from a British perspective. The scholar Nadav Morag looks at a global perspective on homeland security management and strategies in the book ''Comparative Homeland Security: Global Lessons''.


Professional Certification

Certified Homeland Protection Professional is a professional certification established by the National Sheriffs' Association in partnership with the National Domestic Preparedness Coalition, through the Global Center for Threat, Risk, and Vulnerability.


See also

* Civil defense * High policing * Infrastructure security *
Port security Port security is part of a broader definition concerning maritime security. It refers to the defense, law and treaty enforcement, and counterterrorism activities that fall within the port and maritime domain. It includes the protection of the se ...
*
Supply chain security __NOTOC__ Supply chain security (also "supply-chain security") activities aim to enhance the security of the supply chain or value chain, the transport and logistics systems for the world's cargo and to "facilitate legitimate trade".Government o ...
U.S. specific: * Homeland Security Act *
Homeland defense Homeland defense (HD) is the protection of a territory, sovereignty, domestic population, and critical infrastructure against external threats and aggression. (Definition will be incorporated into JP 3-26Definition deferred to ''Homeland Defense, J ...
*
Center for Homeland Defense and Security The Center for Homeland Defense and Security at the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) in Monterey, California is a school focusing on homeland security education. The Center's programs and resources have been developed to advance the study of home ...
(in California) * Terrorism in the United States * Surface and Air Transportation Programs Extension Act of 2011 * National security of the United States


References


Further reading

* United States. Committee on Homeland Security of the House of Representatives. (2008). ''Compilation of homeland security presidential directives (HSPD)''
10th Congress, 2nd Session. Committee Print 110-B 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit (measurement), unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment ...
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office. ..


External links


Homeland Security
from ''UCB Libraries GovPubs'' * Click here for Radar
The DHS Website
*
United States Secretary of Homeland Security The United States secretary of homeland security is the head of the United States Department of Homeland Security, the federal department tasked with ensuring public safety in the United States. The secretary is a member of the Cabinet of th ...
From Wikipedia article page
Rudy Giuliani, 'The Resilient Society,' ''City Journal,'' Winter 2008

In Homeland Security
- Homeland Security news and analysis from experts in the field.
U.S. National Strategy for Homeland Security

Homeland Security: A Selected Bibliography

Congressional Research Service (CRS) reports on homeland security


* ttps://web.archive.org/web/20011102055942/http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/awc-hmld.htm Comprehensive homeland security links (USAF Air War College site)
Canadian Ministry of Public Safety and Emergency Preparedness

Homeland Security Institute Weekly Bulletin

Naval Postgraduate School's Center for Homeland Defense and Security

Homeland Security Newswire
- News Wire Publications
Homeland Security Network (HSN)
- Information Backbone for First Responders
CCICADA, DHS Center of Excellence (Emeritus) at Rutgers University
{{DEFAULTSORT:Homeland Security United States civil defense Law enforcement in the United States American political neologisms National security