7 STEPS Of Highly-Effective Homeland Security

Security of our Homeland depends on a strategic cycle of seven elements comprising deterrence, prevention, preemption, crisis management, consequence management, attribution and response. So says Dave McIntyre, a deputy director for the ANSER Institute of Homeland Security, Arlington, Va.

“We think establishing an intellectual framework of fundamental parts is essential to Homeland security,” McIntyre says. “There are many things you can do with an enemy. But if you can prevent that which pre-empts them, then you can deny them what they are after.”

The Institute promotes the strategic cycle as a useful tool to provide “short-term plans and structure long-range strategies, policies, and resource allocations.” Its goal is to secure the Homeland without changing the nature of the nation and its people.

1. Deterrence is based on two elements: punishment and denial. The increased threat from non-state entities who might employ nuclear, chemical, cyber- or biological weapons demands a shift in deterrence. Given the nature of Homeland security threats, the ability to deter enemies is achieved by denying them the effects they seek.

2. Prevention incorporates active and passive measures that mitigate or even stop an attack or its effects. The nation’s prevention activities range from arms control treaties to aerospace, maritime and land defenses, to border controls and other law enforcement measures.

3. Preemption is a policy fraught with political and military risks. Preemption in the Homeland security context does not have to call for the initiation of nuclear war or occupation of another nation’s territory. It will require, however, the selective use of all elements of national power, to include military force and law enforcement, in concert with allies, to preempt terrorists before they can attack.

4. Crisis management is the investigation and law enforcement response to impending or actual attacks on the Homeland. While the lead federal agency is the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI), other state, local and even private-sector entities have important crisis management roles to play in the immediate aftermath of an attack. Successful crisis management requires coordination and information exchange among all levels of government.

5. Consequence management provides emergency relief services to governments, businesses and individuals, and to restore public health and safety. This effort includes a range of activities carried out by federal, state and local governments, as well as the private sector. Biological and cyber-attacks blur the distinction between crisis and consequence management because they are the only types of weapons that self-replicate.

6. Attribution occupies critical space in the Homeland security cycle. Improving the nation’s attribution capabilities will demand greater scientific methods and technologies, as well as greater integration of the relevant law enforcement and intelligence efforts. Nothing is more important than removing the anonymity that provides security for terrorists. Robust attribution capabilities will require a major research and development effort coupled with the full integration of the resources in the U.S. Justice Department, the intelligence community, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

7. Response has two goals in the Homeland security strategic cycle. The first is to eliminate the current threat and the possibility of future attacks; the second, to reestablish deterrence.