Rhetorical frames are used to support political agendas, define problems, diagnose causes, make policy judgments, and suggest solutions. Following the attacks on September 11, 2001, politicians and media pundits used Islamophobia as a fear-mongering tactic to justify public policy formation. The purpose of this study was to analyze public discourse on Islamic terrorism in arguments advocating government surveillance, restrictive immigration policies, and other erosions of U.S. constitutional protections of its citizens. This study drew on the postmodern theories of Lakoff, Lyotard, and Said to critically examine U.S. political discourse on Islam and terrorism. Three conceptual rhetorical frames were examined: Clash of Civilizations, Endangered Constitutional Protections, and Islamophobia. The key research question asked how U.S. politicians and high-profile national news commentators used biased rhetoric to frame discussions of Islam and terrorism. This qualitative study used content analysis of 44 news reports of crimes that framed these incidents as Islam-inspired terrorism. Study findings suggested that defenders of the USA PATRIOT Act used a Clash of Civilizations frame that pitted Western freedom proponents against radical Muslim fanatics in struggles for social change. U.S. policy makers and news commentators described Islamic inspired terrorism as anti-American vengeance, Jihadism, and/or anti-Semitism to control national debates and information flow. Implications of these findings suggest that an alternative Islamophobic framing can be deployed to make biases explicit, quell anxieties of and about stigmatized groups, raise the self-esteem of the vilified minorities, and decrease the risk of terrorism.

In this dissertation, an important homeland security problem is studied. With the focus on wildfire and pyro-terrorism management. We begin the dissertation by studying the vulnerability of landscapes to pyro-terrorism. We develop a maximal covering based optimization model to investigate the impact of a pyro-terror attack on landscapes based on the ignition locations of fires. We use three test case landscapes for experimentation. We compare the impact of a pyro-terror wildfire with the impacts of naturally-caused wildfires with randomly located ignition points. Our results indicate that a pyro-terror attack, on average, has more than twice the impact on landscapes than wildfires with randomly located ignition points. In the next chapter, we develop a Stackelberg game model, a min-max network interdiction framework that identifies a fuel management schedule that, with limited budget, maximally mitigates the impact of a pyro-terror attack. We develop a decomposition algorithm called MinMaxDA to solve the model for three test case landscapes, located in Western U.S. Our results indicate that fuel management, even when conducted on a small scale (when 2% of a landscape is treated), can mitigate a pyro-terror attack by 14%, on average, comparing to doing nothing. For a fuel management plan with 5%, and 10% budget, it can reduce the damage by 27% and 43% on average. Finally, we extend our study to the problem of suppression response after a pyro-terror attack. We develop a max-min model to identify the vulnerability of initial attack resources when used to fight a pyro-terror attack. We use a test case landscape for experimentation and develop a decomposition algorithm called Bounded Decomposition Algorithm (BDA) to solve the problem since the model has bilevel max-min structure with binary variables in the lower level and therefore not solvable by conventional methods. Our results indicate that although pyro-terror attacks with one ignition point can be controlled with an initial attack, pyro-terror attacks with two and more ignition points may not be controlled by initial attack. Also, a faster response is more promising in controlling pyro-terror fires.

No description available.

At its heart, homeland security is a challenge of coordination;(Kettl 2003; Kettl 2004; Waugh and Tierney 2007) however, coordination is an ambiguous term that is difficult to define or measure (Selznick 1984). To build a coordinated homeland security system, the federal government has introduced a number of policy changes including introduction of the Urban Area Security Area Initiative (UASI). (DHS, 2007) Given that over 80% of the nation's population lives in metropolitan urban regions, (Bureau 2008) homeland security threat, risk, and funding is weighed heavily towards protecting these areas. UASI provides funding to high risk/high population urban areas and is designed to build coordinated regional metropolitan homeland security systems. To meet UASI funding requirements, the nation's largest and most vulnerable metropolitan areas have formed regional homeland security networks. While the National Capital Region (NCR) UASI is representative of the challenges other areas face, the nature of metropolitan regionalism and distilled federalism creates complexity few other homeland security networks face. Policy and service delivery co-exist at the operational/technical levels of the sub-network and better understanding how agencies, functions, and nodes coordinate is important to shaping future homeland security policies. This research studies how one functional node of the regional metropolitan homeland security network, the NCR fire service, coordinates its UASI funding requests throughout the Fiscal Year (FY) 2008 grant cycle. Examining the historical context of regional coordination and formal structures and informal elements the research identified nine characteristics of coordination as it is practiced at the operational/technical level of the network. These characteristics include elements such as standardized national policy direction, leadership, organizational commitment, trusted relationships, shared purpose, political support, time, balance of formal and informal elements, and balance between operational and administrative responsibilities. The research builds on Kettl's concept of contingent coordination by describing how the practice of coordination occurs within the homeland security network and begins to expand our understanding of how we organize, integrate, and coordinate a national model. The research also provides important insight into the translation of policy to operations by describing how technical subject matter experts coordinate both operationally and administratively within the homeland security network. / Ph. D.

This thesis tests the necessity of terrorism in articulating Homeland Security citizenship. Chapter 1 orients the study, reviewing relevant literature. Chapter 2 examines the USDHS Ready Kids program's Homeland Security Guide, mapping a baseline for how Homeland Security citizenship is articulated with the overt use of terrorism. Chapter 3 investigates the USDHS Ready Kids program, charting the logic of Homeland Security citizenship when the threat of terrorism is removed from sense making about preparedness. Chapter 4 compares the findings of Chapters 2 and 3, evaluating the similarities and differences between these two articulations of Homeland Security citizenship and concluding that the logic that cements Homeland Security into American society does not depend on the threat of terrorism against the United States.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / The Seamless Maritime Concept is the need to treat awareness, security, defense in a comprehensive, cohesive manner. Continuing discussion of maritime homeland security and defense capability requirements and resources allocation fails to recognize the unique requirements of the maritime domain. Enormous thought and resources have been put towards enhancing maritime homeland security and maritime homeland defense readiness. Unfortunately, the efforts to date treat "defense" and "security" disparately, ignoring the necessity to include all maritime domain partners. The Seamless Maritime Concept suggests that incremental changes to processes, boundaries, and markets have little chance to dramatically improve performance. The Seamless Maritime Concept suggests a new way of addressing the problem. The Coast Guard's motto is "Semper Paratus" or "Always Ready." It reflects the quality of the people; the people will not let any obstacle prevent them from accomplishing the mission. Admiral Loy's "dull knife" declares the desperate need to re-capitalize the Coast Guard cutter and air craft fleets. And the Coast Guard's long standing record of success all combine to demonstrate that given some resource support that the Coast Guard can get it (maritime security) done. Conversely, failure to recapitalize will drive the Coast Guard toward obsolescence and preclude an opportunity to enhance the security and defense readiness of the maritime domain. / Commander, United States Coast Guard

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / The need for a well thought out, planned, and rehearsed command and control organization to conduct special operations in the US Northern Command Area of Responsibility is vital to success in defending the Homeland. Currently, USNORTHCOM does not have an apportioned or assigned command and control structure for the conduct of special operations. This thesis analyzes three courses of action to fulfill this requirement: use the current USNORTHCOM battle staff command structure including the integration of the Standing Joint Force Headquarters-North; rely on the newly formed US Special Operations Command's Joint Task Force Structures; and establish a Theater Special Operations Command North assigned to USNORTHCOM. Through the conduct of analysis and research this thesis recommends that The Joint Staff direct the reorganization required to establish a Theater Special Operations Command North to exercise command and control of special operations forces conducting operations in the USNORTHCOM AOR. / Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army

Approved for public release, distribution is unlimited / A capabilities-based approach to contingency planning offers important opportunities to strengthen both Homeland Defense and Homeland Security. The Department of Defense (DOD) and the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) have already begun moving beyond traditional threat-based and scenario-based planning methodologies toward a more capabilities-based approach, but require embracing this concept more in order to counter challenges in developing contingency plans against current threats to the US Homeland. Additionally, given the critical responsibilities of state and local governments in Homeland Security, this planning approach might be applied far beyond the Federal government. This thesis examines ways that a specialized capabilities-based planning process might be applied to Homeland Defense and Homeland Security, and applies the proposed methodology to two case studies: the US Navy Component of US Northern Command and the New York City Fire Department. / Lieutenant Colonel, United States Army

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Homeland Security and Defense))--Naval Postgraduate School, 2005. / Title from title screen (viewed Apr. 12, 2006). "March 2005." Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-72) Also issued in paper format.

Master of Science / Food Science Institute, Diagnostic Medicine Pathobiology / Justin J. Kastner / The Department of Homeland Security recognizes the Agriculture and Food Sector as a Critical Infrastructure and Key Resource—critical to the health and wealth of the United States. When food safety (i.e., unintentional) or food defense (i.e., intentional) issues arise, those in the Agriculture and Food Sector must quickly and efficiently make decisions to ensure the safety of consumers. Decision-making is an essential element in critical infrastructure protection and response. Naturalistic decision-making (NDM) explores how people make decisions in real- world settings. Eight factors characterize the task and setting in naturalistic environments and include the following: ill-structured problems; uncertain, dynamic environments; shifting, ill-defined, or competing goals; action/feedback loops; time constraints; outcome with high stakes; multiple players; and organizational goals and norms. This thesis explores whether or not food safety and food defense educational programs incorporate methods that help professionals make good decisions. To that end, this thesis first examines the decision-making environment in responding to incidents involving food safety and food defense. Four cases involving food safety and food defense reveal the presence of all eight factors. As these factors complicate the decision-making process, this thesis then evaluates whether or not prevailing educational programs and tools aimed at preparing for food safety and food defense issues (i.e., HACCP and CARVER plus Shock) directly address the eight factors characterizing NDM settings. This is explored by “following” a hypothetical student in a food safety and food defense course. The information presented to the student was analyzed and this analysis indicates that the eight factors characterizing NDM settings were addressed albeit to varying degrees. HACCP addresses action/feedback loops, time constraints, outcome with high stakes, and multiple players. CARVER plus Shock addresses action/feedback loops, outcome with high stakes, and multiple players. While HACCP somewhat addresses ill-structured problems and organizational goals and norms, it fails to address uncertain, dynamic environments and shifting, ill-defined, or competing goals. CARVER plus Shock somewhat addresses ill-structured problems; uncertain, dynamic environments; shifting, ill-defined, or competing goals; time constraints; and organizational goals and norms. In light of this, new approaches to training are needed to fully incorporate all eight factors.