Policy Memo/White Paper

Policy Memo/White Paper

[Author’s name]

Policy Memo/White Paper

To: The Administration

From: President’s Homeland Security Advisor

Date: August 19, 2019Subject: Consideration of National Resilience as an Element of Homeland Security

Purpose

The memo policy provides a detailed consideration of the present situation of national resilience as the crucial element of homeland security. This form of consideration further assists to propose better practical options in the form of future implications.

Background

The practical prospect of resilience can never be separated from the overall paradigm of homeland security. The phenomenon of resilience in case of homeland security emerged over the years according to the changing requirements. All the stakeholders need to understand that resilience is one continual procedure to ensure the better domains of homeland security. It is established that in the early time period of homeland security, the approach of resilience was characterized in the form of critical infrastructure protection.

Assessment of Current State of National Resilience

As a newly appointed President’s Homeland Security Advisor, it is crucial for me to critically assess the current position of national resilience in the context of homeland security. This form of exploration is essential to propose better policy strategies for future application in the form of homeland security. The extensive research on the issue indicates me that currently, resilience is one focal point considering the practical domain of homeland security. The standard of resilience is officially recognized by the country’s institutes in the form of the 2017 National Security Strategy. This form of realization clearly indicates that it is important to enhance the approach of resilience considering it as the essential element of homeland security. Assessment of the existing positioning of the national resilience also assists in defining the actual roles of different stakeholders ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Vy4HjIzT","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kahan, 2015)","plainCitation":"(Kahan, 2015)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1248,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/3JB65KEJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/3JB65KEJ"],"itemData":{"id":1248,"type":"article-journal","title":"Resilience redux: Buzzword or basis for homeland security","container-title":"Homeland Security Affairs","page":"1-19","volume":"11","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Kahan","given":"Jerome H."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2015"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kahan, 2015). It is crucial to consider that different levels of government authorities, the private and nonprofit sectors, and citizens are established as main shareholders to attain better forms of national resilience.

The broad idea of national resilience requires the development of the ability to endure and speedily recover from different unwanted circumstances. These unsolicited events identified in the form of cautious terrorist attacks, accidents, and natural disasters. As a strong nation, it is important to adopt different practical measures to enhance the resilience level concerning the overall idea of homeland security.

Consideration of Existing Strategies

Identification of the current strategies in case of national resilience is a critical step to propose a better future in the context of homeland security. I am inclined to measure the effectiveness of the existing strategies to identify the areas that require further improvements. The current strategies of the Department of Homeland Security focused on four major areas in case of operating resilience. These broad domains established as the adoption of changing circumstances, withstanding disruptions, assurance of rapid recovery, and individual attentiveness. Comprehensive assessment of the current functioning of the department reveals that the idea of enhancing resilience is characterized under these four major domains. All these four areas characterized as the direction to formulate and execute the suitable form of resilience under the domain of homeland security.

The institute of homeland security working as the resilience organization to build the culture of preparedness at the national level. This particular objective can better apprehend through the practical domains of insurance, mitigation, preparedness, continuity, and the prospect of grant programs ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"lattn4Fo","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Haimes, Crowther, & Horowitz, 2008)","plainCitation":"(Haimes, Crowther, & Horowitz, 2008)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1249,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/6BG9H97K"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/7Hi3kAOD/items/6BG9H97K"],"itemData":{"id":1249,"type":"article-journal","title":"Homeland security preparedness: Balancing protection with resilience in emergent systems","container-title":"Systems Engineering","page":"287-308","volume":"11","issue":"4","author":[{"family":"Haimes","given":"Yacov Y."},{"family":"Crowther","given":"Kenneth"},{"family":"Horowitz","given":"Barry M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2008"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Haimes, Crowther, & Horowitz, 2008). The active role of regional resiliency assessment program can also never be ignored when it comes to the exploration of specific opportunities for homeland security to enhance infrastructure resilience.

Identification of the Gaps

Critical consideration of the existing operations of the department of homeland security is a helpful perspective to identify the existing gap. It is essential to identify the specific areas that require additional attention to ensure better forms of resilience as a critical factor. Examination of the actual relationship between homeland security and resilience is critical to ensure the desired form of the national element of resilience. I thoroughly analyze different areas practically connected with the factor of resilience. Emerging hazards and threats for the country’s security demands to identify particular areas that require attention.

There is a need to offer better practical measures in case of strategic planning for future implications. The idea of comprehensive strategic planning demands the identification of different areas links with the approach of resilience. The objective of workforce readiness and resilience (WRR) strategic plan can better establish through the consistent performance of different inter-linked departments. My assessment of the entire perspective helps me to identify the existing gap in the form of development of long-term goals embedded. There is a need for adopting better practical measures to develop WRR strategic plan for the future according to the changing features of security and resilience. Development of the updated line of action with the consideration of necessary cooperation between different shareholders is an essential step.

Recommendations

As the keen observer of the entire perspective of resilience in the context of homeland security, I strongly recommend the proper integration of all the allied departments. Adoption of suitable WRR strategic plan according to the main organizational vision is a mandatory option for the department to attain the desired forms of resilience. Timely evaluation of anticipated progress in case of different policies, programs, and practices is critical to determine the actual progress of the Department of Homeland Security in case of the element of resilience. Undoubtedly, multiple avenues are involved in this scenario that needs to be aligned according to the broad organizational domain.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Haimes, Y. Y., Crowther, K., & Horowitz, B. M. (2008). Homeland security preparedness: Balancing protection with resilience in emergent systems. Systems Engineering, 11(4), 287–308.

Kahan, J. H. (2015). Resilience redux: Buzzword or basis for homeland security. Homeland Security Affairs, 11(2), 1–19.