HSI Journal of Homeland Security

A Look at Ben Gurion International Airport’s Security
By Brandon Fried
Published 8/6/2008

Summary - Brandon Fried, Executive Director of the Airforwarders Association, discusses security operations at Israel’s Ben Gurion airport—arguably the most protected aviation facility in the world—which Fried visited in May 2008 with a group of airport managers, Department of Homeland Security officials, elected community leaders, and biometric experts.

Using Cold War Tactics to Meet the Challenge of Suicide Jihad
By Nigel West
Published 4/8/2008

Summary - Nigel West discusses whether Cold War tactics would be useful against suicide terrorists who make no effort to conceal their identities.

The Swiss–U.S. Counterterrorism Partnership
By Urs Ziswiler
Published 4/27/2007 1:56:00 PM

Summary - In “The Swiss–U.S. Counterterrorism Partnership,” Urs Ziswiler, Swiss Ambassador to the United States, discusses joint activity in combating the financing of terrorism and exchanging information, along with two new areas of cooperation: responding to bioterrorism and threat convergence.

100% Container Inspection is Not Necessary and Would Halt World Trade
By Peter Dedic
Published 3/16/2007

Summary - In “100% Container Inspection Is Not Necessary and Would Halt World Trade,” Scott Dedic, Chairman of the International Cargo Security Council, says that 100% cargo container inspections would break the back of global commerce. The council says that government initiatives since 9/11 have addressed the vulnerabilities in transporting containerized cargo to better target and inspect suspect containers before they are loaded onto ships.

The Global Forum on Preventing Bio-Terrorism—Heeding the Call
By Barry Kellman
Published 8/29/2006

Summary - In “The Global Forum on Preventing Bio-Terrorism—Heeding the Call,” professor Barry Kellman says that a series of policy missteps have entwined around the complexities of bio-science which have snarled around the futility of tackling an intrinsically global problem in an anarchic and rapidly changing world.

MI5 as a Model for an American Security Agency
By Nigel West
Published 8/15/2006

Summary - MI5 as a Model for an American Security Agency. Nigel West asks whether the United States should have a domestic intelligence agency modeled on the British MI5 and concludes that, because of differences in history, culture, and operational environment, MI5 does not offer a practical model.

Fighting Terrorism--International Cooperation
By Wolfgang Ischinger
Published 4/15/2004

Summary - More than two years after the attacks of 9/11 and subsequent assaults in Tunisia, Bali, Casablanca, Istanbul, and Madrid, it is clear that our Western democracies are not yet winning the war on global terrorism. To succeed, we need even stronger transatlantic cooperation on all fronts—diplomatic, law enforcement, financial, intelligence, and military.

We Already Have an Act of Congress: Destroy the U.S. Chemical Weapons Stockpile Now
By Vicente Tur-Rojas
Published 3/11/2004

Summary - Sarin gas is among the deadliest substances known, developed by German scientists in World War II and designed to discriminately kill human beings. More recently, in March 1995, members from the Aum Shinrikyo cult in Japan released sarin gas in Tokyo subways during the morning rush hour, killing 12 people and injuring thousands of others with the express intent of killing mass numbers of the Japanese government and public through an act of terrorism.

Electrifying Transportation for Homeland Security
By Steve Dunham
Published 3/3/2004

Summary - Converting more of America’s mainline railroads to electric propulsion could increase the nation’s security by reducing America’s almost complete dependence on oil to fuel its transportation systems.

The Role of Private Security in Combating Terrorism
By Charles Connolly
Published 7/29/2003

Summary - Our future may be merely different in handling crisis. In the past we have handled plagues, world wars, holocaust, the evils of Hitler and Communism, and countless other evils. Our ability to deal with the unknown is not in question.

Animal Disaster Planning
By Peg Boyles
Published 4/24/2003

Summary - **This article previously appeared in shorter form on the University of New Hampshire Cooperative Extension website.
Wildfires, structure fires, floods, blizzards, ice storms, tornadoes, hurricanes, hazardous waste spills, industrial explosions, foreign and domestic terrorism—all of these emergencies may affect household pets and farm animals.

Proactive Deployment of Modern Communications Tools—Lessons Learned
By Richard Sheirer
Published 4/15/2003

Summary - As public safety professionals, we have known for many years that communications and modern technology are essential tools for first responders. Whether responding to a routine house fire or a wide-ranging event like the Shuttle Columbia recovery effort, public safety officials need to coordinate through secure and reliable communication tools.

Smallpox: Right Topic, Wrong Debate
By Randy Larsen
Published 7/14/2002

Summary - America's top public health officials are engaged in a raging debate: how to best prepare for a smallpox attack on the American homeland. Unfortunately, most of this debate focuses on the wrong issue. Instead of arguing about whether we should vaccinate as few as 15,000 or as many as 500,000 medical workers and other first responders before an attack, the debate should focus on how to best prepare for mass vaccination after an attack.

Public Versus Private Surveillance
By John Shore
Published 11/22/2002

Summary - John Shore is a senior advisor to the Vietnam Veterans of America Foundation. He was founder and CEO of Entropic, Inc., which specialized in advanced speech recognition technology.

Can We Insure Against Losses Due to Terrorism?
By Lawrence Mirel
Published 10/30/2002

Summary - It does not look as if Congress will manage to enact a terrorism insurance “backstop” law before it adjourns. The House and Senate have each passed different versions of a bill, but despite urging by President Bush and the insurance and real estate industries, there has not even been a date set for a meeting of the Senate-House conference committee that would have to work out the differences.

Whose Homeland, Whose Security?
By John Leech
Published 10/3/2002

Summary - John Leech is the European Coordinator of the American-European political and security circle West-West Agenda and a leading member of the Federal Trust. He has published several books on NATO and West European issues. His latest book, Asymmetries of Conflict: War Without Death, was published by Frank Cass in the summer of 2002.

Reading Strategy Between the Lines
By Michael Donley
Published 8/8/2002

Summary - Michael B. Donley is Vice President of Hicks & Associates, Inc. He previously served in senior positions at the Senate Armed Services Committee, the National Security Council, and the Department of Defense. While at the National Security Council, he co-authored the Basic National Security Strategy for President Reagan’s second term.

Local Terrorism
By Ben Malisow
Published 6/28/2002

Summary - Ben Malisow, MBA, CISSP, SANS GSEC- A former Air Force officer, Ben now works for Beta Analytics International (BAI) as an INFOSEC policy analyst and training supervisor. He is currently contracted to DARPA in support of the Security and Intelligence Directorate at their headquarters in Virginia. In what might be called spare time, he does some freelance writing and publishes a humor website.

Reorganizing for Homeland Security: Lessons From Fifty Years of Organizing / Reorganizing the Department of Defense
By Joseph R. Barnes
Published 6/26/2002

Summary - Brigadier General Joseph Barnes is recognized as an expert on the Posse Comitatus Act and has extensive experience in the Department of the Army’s Office of the Judge Advocate General as Assistant Judge Advocate General in both the civil and military law divisions.

The Meat-and-Potatoes Approach to Bioterrorism
By Stephen Cunnion
Published 5/28/2002

Summary - Discussion of the bioterrorism threat has emphasized aerosols, the preferred method of disseminating biological or chemical agents as a weapon of war. The food and water of an enemy in open field positions would not be easily susceptible to contamination. However, in terrorism, the purest form of asymmetric warfare, the opposite is true.

Amend the Stafford Act to Fund Emergency State Use of the National Guard
By Joseph R. Barnes
Published 3/1/2002

Summary - Recognized as an expert on the Posse Comitatus Act, Brigadier General Joseph Barnes has extensive experience in the Department of the Army’s Office of the Judge Advocate General as Assistant Judge Advocate General in both the civil and military law divisions. General Barnes also worked as a member of the Chief of Staff of the Army’s Transition Team and as the senior legal advisor to the Commander of Forces Command.