Critical Releases in Homeland Security: February 18, 2015

From the Introduction: "The 2014 'Caribbean Border Counternarcotics Strategy' (Strategy) articulates the U.S. framework for reducing the threats associated with drugs at the border and is guided by the following strategic goal and six strategic objectives: (1) Enhance intelligence and information-sharing capabilities and processes associated with the Caribbean border; (2) Interdict illicit drugs and drug proceeds at and between U.S. ports of entry in the Caribbean; (3) Interdict illicit drugs and illicit drug proceeds in the air and maritime domains in and around the Caribbean border; maximize evidence and intelligence collection to support criminal investigations leading to associated and higher echelon networks; (4) Disrupt and dismantle transnational criminal organizations operating in and around the Caribbean border; (5) Substantially reduce the level of drug related violent crime in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands; and (6) Strengthen communities and reduce the demand for drugs. Each of the Strategy's six chapters addresses one of the Strategic Objectives by including background, providing a summary of supporting actions, and identifying the Federal agencies responsible for coordinating and executing these actions. […] Federal agencies participate in a variety of activities directly impacting drug-related violent crime in Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Due to the limited interior landmass and unique nature of the Puerto Rico/U.S. Virgin Islands maritime borders, Federal collaboration with state, local, and territorial law enforcement agencies is one of the major areas of emphasis within the Strategy. By building upon existing architecture, identifying needed resources, and enlisting state and local law enforcement in a genuine partnership, this Strategy will enable the Nation to address the threat in a comprehensive manner."

From the abstract: "We propose a methodology to analyze the risk of an adversary exploiting the maritime supply chain by smuggling a WMD in a container. We call this risk 'WMD transfer risk'. We describe an extension of an existing modeling/simulation tool wherein we show how to quantify the deterrence effects of optimal investments in WMD detection technology at U.S. ports; and measure subsequent reduction in WMD transfer risk. From a theoretical perspective, the implications of notional results from this model are different from implications of the results of traditional 'game theoretical' models. From a practitioner perspective, our results emphasize the importance of tailoring foreign intelligence gathering efforts, hardening foreign ports against exploitation in addition to hardening U.S. ports, and comparing simulated optimal technology costs to real-world R&D [Research and Development]and implementation costs. The audience for our proposal includes WMD detection technology engineers, law enforcement and security personnel, port operators, and agency executives."

From the Conclusion: "This National Security Strategy provides a vision for strengthening and sustaining American leadership in this still young century. It clarifies the purpose and promise of American power. It aims to advance our interests and values with initiative and from a position of strength. We will deter and defeat any adversary that threatens our national security and that of our allies. We confidently welcome the peaceful rise of other countries as partners to share the burdens for maintaining a more peaceful and prosperous world. We will continue to collaborate with established and emerging powers to promote our shared security and defend our common humanity, even as we compete with them in economic and other realms. We will uphold and refresh the international rules and norms that set the parameters for such collaboration and competition. We will do all of this and more with confidence that the international system whose creation we led in the aftermath of World War II will continue to serve America and the world well. This is an ambitious, but achievable agenda, especially if we continue to restore the bipartisan center that has been a pillar of strength for American foreign policy in decades past. America has greater capacity to adapt and recover from setbacks than any other country. A core element of our strength is our unity and our certainty that American leadership in this century, like the last, remains indispensable."