More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything : Homeland Security, Borders, and Disasters in the Twenty-First Century

Migration, borders, cybersecurity, natural disasters, and terrorism: Homeland security is constantly in the news. Despite ongoing attention, these problems seem to be getting bigger even as the political discussion grows more overheated and misleading. Ben Rohrbaugh, a former border security director at the White House’s National Security Council, cuts through the noise to provide an accessible and novel framework to understand both homeland security and the thinking around how to keep civilians safe. Throughout the twentieth century, the United States did not experience national security domestically; it defended its borders by conducting military, foreign policy, and intelligence operations internationally, and then separated these activities from domestic law enforcement with bright legal lines. In the twenty-first century, U.S. national security no longer occurs exclusively outside of the nation. The U.S. government is beginning to respond to this change, and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security is merely the first step in an organizational and strategic realignment that will be a long, difficult, and mistake-filled process. More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything is an accessible and engaging guide to homeland security, particularly migration and border security, that makes innovative arguments about the American government and keeping citizens safe, and provides practical solutions to real-world problems. Migration, borders, cybersecurity, natural disasters, and terrorism: Homeland security is constantly in the news. Despite ongoing attention, the problems seem to be getting bigger and the political discussion is overheated and misleading. Ben Rohrbaugh, a former border security director at the White House's National Security Council, cuts through the noise to provide an accessible and novel framework to understand homeland security and think about the best ways to keep civilians safe. Throughout ghout the twentieth century, the United States did not experience national security domestically; it defended the country by conducting military, foreign policy, and intelligence operations internationally, and separated these activities from domestic law enforcement with bright legal lines. In the twenty-first century, national security no longer occurs in other countries. The U.S. government is only beginning to organize itself to respond to this change, and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security is merely the first step in an organizational and strategic realignment that will be a long, difficult, and mistake-filled process. More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything is an accessible and engaging guide to homeland security, particularly migration and border security, that makes innovative arguments about the American government and keeping citizens safe in the twenty-first century and provides practical solutions to real-world problems "Migration, borders, cybersecurity, natural disasters, and terrorism: Homeland security is constantly in the news. Despite ongoing attention, the problems seem to be getting bigger and the political discussion is misleading and overheated. Ben Rohrbaugh, a former border security director at the White House's National Security Council, cuts through the noise with an accessible and novel framework for understanding homeland security and the best ways to keep civilians safe. The U.S. government is only beginning to address national security domestically instead of internationally, and the establishment of the Department of Homeland Security is merely the first step in a strategic realignment that will be long, difficult, and riddled with missteps. More or Less Afraid of Nearly Everything is an accessible and engaging guide to homeland security, particularly issues surrounding migration and border security, making innovative arguments about safety at home in the twenty-first century and providing practical solutions to real-world problems"-- Provided by publisher Contents Author’s Note List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. National Security Comes Home 2. The Implications of New Vulnerabilities 3. The Unpleasant Process of Reorganizing a Government 4. The Department of Homeland Security We Have 5. Sovereignty and Twentieth-Century Border Management 6. Risk Management and Twenty-First-Century Borders 7. Migration and Border Security 8. Putting Off the Evil Day Conclusion Acknowledgments Notes Index