Similarities Between Homeland Security, Defense, And Critical Infrastructure

Homeland Security, Defense, and Critical Infrastructure After the deadly attacks on September 11, 2001, the terms “homeland security” and “homeland defense” were put on the spotlight. Since then, defining—and differentiating—the two has been one of the many issues on the field of national security. In fact, since the birth of these terms, there is no strict and absolute single definition for them. To properly understand the two ideas, this essay will therefore look into how “homeland security” and “homeland defense” are defined, where the two deviate from each other, and where they meet as part of the national security spectrum.
Defining Homeland Security and Defense
Precipitated by the 9/11 attacks, the concept of homeland security was developed

The DOD is the federal and executive agency concerned with coordination of agencies related to national security and armed forces. While they are the overarching federal agency on military matters, their homeland defense roles may overlap with homeland security, an area which they now also consider as part of their mission. Terrorist attacks are one of their major threat concerns. As part of DOD’s deterrence, they conduct 1) intelligence collection and 2) augmentation of other security agencies using the National Guard, such as border patrol, custom agencies, and security of major cities (Bowman, 2003, p. 3). The DOD also has a complex system of organization its own system of organization and command aimed at responding to threats of weapons, particularly CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear) weapons. The thing about terrorist and CBRN threats is that while they can be considered as non-traditional threats, potential attacks can be sponsored either by a sovereign nation or a violent non-state actor. Thus, we see here the overlapping focus: deterrence aimed at protection of U.S. homeland (homeland security) and deterrence and response in the context of military affairs (homeland

1). Meanwhile, the USA Patriot Act of 2001 provides a definition which perfectly illustrates why these systems are dubbed as “critical.” According to the law, critical infrastructure is the “systems and assets, whether physical or virtual, so vital to the United States that the incapacity or destruction of such systems and assets would have a debilitating impact on security, national economic security, national public health or safety, or any combination of those matters” (as mentioned in The White House, 2013). Following these definitions, critical infrastructure are the basic infrastructure the society needs to function and survive on a daily basis. Any disruption that could cause incapacity or destruction of one sector would bring a devastating impact on society, national security, and public safety (Moteff,