THE HOMELAND SECURITY PROGRAM

The Homeland Security Program

Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION3

THE HOMELAND SECURITY PROGRAM3

CONCLUSION11

REFERENCES13

Introduction

Terrorism and a range of other unconventional threats jeopardise U.S. and global security in the 21st Century. Addressing these challenges requires that states do two things: secure their territory from attack and mitigate threats at their source. The Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Program analyses how the U.S. and other countries work toward these goals. It considers the measures that states can take--like creating a national infrastructure which is impervious to physical damage--to enhance their domestic security. And the program explores how best to combat global terrorism--such as by increasing cooperation between countries which face a common threat, or by building indigenous capacity in those states and territories at greatest risk to extremist elements.

The Homeland Security Program

Whilst it is generally accepted amongst security practitioners and scholars that security never offers complete protection, most managers would not find it acceptable to adopt this position. In the Australian state of Victoria, of which Melbourne is the capital city, the Victorian Terrorism (Community Protection) Act (2003) was implemented. Under this legislation, some organisations are obliged to close the gaps in security and offer substantial procedures and mechanisms for preventing and mitigating terrorism (Fleckner and Stevens, 2005, p. 4). Despite this obligation, there remains doubt and scepticism amongst some managers regarding the threat of terrorism to Melbourne. Managers are subsequently, and in some instances begrudgingly, undertaking a number of activities that would fall under the broad banner of “counter-terrorism”. Yet “security” may only need to appear as though it is complete: an image of security is possibly all that is required for businesses to be effective in their counter-terrorism efforts.

Terrorism, according to Jenkins (1987, p. 583), is designed to have a lot of people watching, not just a lot of people dead. Since terrorism is designed for an audience and not just for victims, the media has played a crucial role in determining how people understand terrorism in Melbourne - a city that has never been the site for a significant act of terrorism (see Hocking, 2004). Terrorism is witnessed by Australians almost exclusively through the media. In particular, the television news has delivered contemporary terrorism to the living rooms of millions. For people in locations distant to the USA, and indeed for many in the USA, terrorism was a moving picture on a screen. In this way, images can be seen as a replacement for witnessing terrorism first-hand (Baudrillard, 1987). What Baudrillard (1994, p. 2) described as “substituting the signs of the real for the real” refers to the way that images in the media are heavily relied upon by people seeking information about their world to the point that media images are often the only source of information. While some people in Melbourne were in New York and Washington on September 11 and some were in Bali and London during terrorist attacks, most commonly terrorism is witnessed as an image. Even some New Yorkers have described watching the September 11 attacks on television ...