Homeland Security Reform: A Case Study

This week’s lesson explores the evolution of civil security reform and the overbearing influence of politics associated with structuring Homeland Security (HS). Moreover, each article elucidates the challenge in defining Homeland Security spawned from attempts to align multiple agencies within the Homeland Security Enterprise (HSE). Kahan (2013) presents an amalgam of conflicting models and principles that are derived from a disjointed perspective of how to define HS. During the past 2 decades, the federal system has undergone multiple attempts to define Homeland Security. This includes the categorization of the differences and similarities of how terrorism is viewed by multiple perspectives (Kiltz & Ramsay, 2012). There is no clear answer

criminal laws with the intent to intimidate or coerce civilians and/or government with the major difference being that international terrorism transcends “the jurisdiction of the United States or of any State.” I agree with the notion that the definitions are becoming intertwined, as global terrorism has created a network that transcends borders. Thus, one countries threat poses a risk to all allies, as these groups evolve to a more decentralized structure. Pre 9-11 these organizations focused on terrorizing a nations populace in order to disrupt foreign government agendas that directly interfered with states corrupted by terrorist organizations (particurly in the middle east). A concept that encompasses both domestic and international terrorism, as terrorists attacked their local communities, while conducting attacks against foreign supporters. Post 9-11 terrorism has created a system that recruits and galvanizes malleable individuals for promoting their cause without being directly connected to the respective group (whether as lone-wolfs, under the ranks of ISIS, or among various other groups with no distinct goal other than disrupting local governments and dissuading outside powers from interfering in international affairs). Reflecting on Kiltz and Ramsey (2012), the information age has created a complex system of “modern threats and hazards” that cannot simply be analyzed through one conceptual