Posted: November 29th, 2015

Foundations of Homeland Security and Defense The United States has embraced the homeland security monolith having neither fully understood nor tamed all that it encompasses.

Foundations of Homeland Security and Defense The United States has embraced the homeland security monolith having neither fully understood nor tamed all that it encompasses. This challenging course provides a broad overview of homeland security and homeland defense as undertaken in the United States since 9/11 and under different administrations. The goal is to provide the generally accepted body of knowledge required of the homeland security professional. The course focuses on four areas: the enemy, why they hate us, and the threat they pose; the policies and procedures enacted since 9/11; the key players at the federal, state and local levels; and legal issues critical to the conduct of homeland security and defense activities by the National Guard. The student will be gain an understanding in asymmetric thinking, develop an appreciation for the growing body of literature in the discipline of homeland security, and have the opportunity to examine a key issue in depth through a term research paper.
– The required Textbooks for this course (please see the syllabus
1. Forst, Brian – Terrorism, Crime, and Public Policy, ISBN: 978-0-521-67642-7
2. Harmon, C.C., Pratt, A.N., Gorka, S. – Toward a Grand Strategy Against Terrorism, ISBN: 978-0-07-352779-6

-The topic of this week, Wk 2: Critical Infrastructure Identification, Prioritization, and Protection (NOTE that there is a relationship between this topic of Wk 2 and the topic of the slides you’ve benn working on)

– THE RESOURCES (Reading Assignments) OF THIS WEEK: (PLEASE USE SOME OF THEM WHEN DOIN G THE ASSIGNMENT OF THIS WEEK):
1. Assigned Readings
a. National Infrastructure Protection Plan (gov/national-infrastructure-protection-plan%29″ target=”_blank”>https://www.dhs.gov/national-infrastructure-protection-plan)
b. Dagger and Sarin

The assignment of this week, Week 2, is as follows:
1- Identify critical components – nodes, links, and regions of the country – that are highly important to the sector.
2- Do you think the greater problem today generally is too little security? Describe the consequences of too little security. Explain your answer.