What does the term ‘Homeland Security’ mean?

“We Have Some Planes”[i]

What does the term ‘Homeland Security’ mean? The original view was narrow – homeland security is only about terrorism and focusing on anything additional dilutes, distracts, and weakens the homeland security mission. This quickly expanded to include natural disasters and we now call it ‘all hazards’ (terrorism, man-made disasters, and natural disasters).

Homeland security also includes local, jurisdictional hazards. For example, hurricanes, tornados, flooding, or earthquakes which usually don’t happen in the same geographic location.?Homeland security can mean different things depending on where you live.

A broader view of homeland security advocates that homeland security is about everything – that it implicates almost every sector of our lives and there is very little which does not relate to it in some way.

Under this view, the arts (painting, poetry, music, dance, theatre, food) have homeland security implications. Known to break down barriers and overcome cultural differences, sometimes the arts are the only connection between otherwise hostile/unfriendly countries.[ii] ?“We must never forget that art is not a form of propaganda; it is a form of truth.”[iii]?Even food counts. "It's often said that the closest interaction many Americans have with other countries' cultures is through food. That kind of culinary diplomacy is particularly common in Washington, D.C., where immigrants from all over the world have cooked up a diverse food scene...."[iv]

For those who think homeland security must also include (a long list of) global issues, then homeland security is synonymous with what I call, "One World Security.”?We can plan to prevent, prepare for, and recover from a terrorist attack. We will never be 100% successful. We can also take the broader and longer-term view and work to make the world a better place for all with less conflict.

[i] Title of 1st chapter of The 9/11 Commission Report, from a radio transmission from American Flight 11. “We have some planes. Just stay quiet, and you’ll be okay. We are returning to the airport.”

Final Report of the National Commission on Terrorists Attacks Upon the United States, n.d. p. 19. < https://www.9-11commission.gov/report/911Report.pdf> ?and <https://govinfo.library.unt.edu/911/report/index.htm>.

?[ii] Cuba and the U.S., for example. <https://www.npr.org/2014/12/18/371721096/music-a-longtime-feature-of-cuba-u-s-cultural-exchange>.“From the mid-1950s and continuing through the 1970s, many American jazz greats traveled the globe as music envoys under the sponsorship of the U.S. Department of State. Today’s music diplomacy programs, including American Music Abroad, Center Stage, OneBeat, and Next Level, and the State Department’s other arts-based initiatives, serve to open dialogue with new audiences, encourage collaboration, create economic opportunities, and empower women and youth by providing positive and popular avenues for engagement.” U.S. Dept. of State, April 16, 2015. Web. 13 March 2016. <https://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2015/04/240749.htm>.

(18 August 2021 This link was no longer active.)

?[iii] John F. Kennedy, October 26, 1963.

?[iv] Gastrodiplomacy: Cooking Up A Tasty Lesson On War And Peace, by Linda Poon, NPR - March 24, 2014. <https://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2014/03/24/291980375/gastrodiplomacy-cooking-up-a-tasty-lesson-on-war-and-peace?sc=17&f=1001>.

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