The Atlantic Council of the United States, in response to the challenges faced by the nation in the wake of the COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic, addresses the issues of national preparedness and resilience in their October 2020 publication, Effective Resilience and National Strategy: Lessons From the Pandemic and Requirements for Key Critical Infrastructures by Franklin D. Kramer.
Kramer claims that the pandemic has revealed that the U.S. is not prepared for large-scale attacks or disruptions- much less so if one were to occur during an event such as COVID-19. The author emphasizes the importance effective resilience, or building up key infrastructures to be better prepared for any major threat facing the United States with minimal disruptions.
In order to prepare for and withstand another worldwide catastrophe, or a targeted national attack while defenses are down during the pandemic, the author recommends the following three resolutions:
- A Strategic Framework for Key Critical Infrastructure Resilience
- Reinforcing critical infrastructures, cybersecurity, and supply chains;
- A Strategic Framework for Health Sector and Biological Resilience
- Building up the national healthcare sector and biodefenses, and funding research and development in preparation for another pandemic situation;
- Establishment by Congress of a Resilience Commission
- Appointing a commission to keep the U.S. prepared for the next pandemic or national emergency.
For more information, visit the HSDL Featured Topics on Domestic (U.S.) Terrorism, Immigration, Cyber Crime and National Security, Cyber Infrastructure Protection, Global Terrorism, Lone Wolf Terrorism, Pandemics and Epidemics, Wildfires, and Hurricanes.
You can also visit our Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19) Special Collection or our In Focus: 2019 Novel Coronavirus collection.
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