How to Think about Homeland Security: Risk, Threats, and the New Normal

Risk, Threats and the New Normal explains the new political and technological developments that created new domestic national security threats against the nation and the people of the United States.The book traces the development of and competition between national preparedness (focused on people and property), and civil defense / security (focused on the defense of systems and infrastructure) since the latter days of World War I. While Homeland Security was created to meet national security threats in the domestic arena, most of the duties have devolved to public safety personnel and organizations. The result is a clash of cultures, jurisdictions, and perspectives that produces "less than optimal" results from the many bureaucracies involved. The second of four volumes in McIntyre's How to Think About Homeland Security series offers suggestions for how these issues might be addressed by Homeland Security.