U.S. government-led terrorism prevention approaches, formerly known as countering violent extremism (CVE), remain dramatically ineffective due to sustained political opposition and limited funding, a new report from RAND confirms. Titled “Practical Terrorism Prevention: Reexaming U.S. National Approaches to Addressing the Threat of Ideologically Motivated Violence,” the study argues that the...
Trust for America’s Health (TFAH) recently published its annual report for 2019, titled “Ready or Not: Protecting the Public’s Health From Diseases, Disasters and Bioterrorism,” which assesses states’ readiness to protect its residents based on ten criteria. Using data for 2017, the report concludes that, while overall emergency preparedness for...
Saudi Foreign Fighters: Analysis of Leaked Islamic State Entry Documents is an examination of documents that were leaked to various media outlets and academic institutions in 2016 regarding the profiles of foreign terrorist fighters (FTF) recruited to the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. This study specifically examines the recruitment of...
New In Focus now available on Human Trafficking, with resources that address this crime which affects millions of men, women, and children every year in countries around the world, including the United States. According the International Labour Organization, “At any given time in 2016, an estimated 40.3 million people are in modern slavery, including 24.9 million...
The Center for Homeland Defense and Security (CHDS) created the Annotated Worldwide Threat Assessment 2019—an interactive multi-media tool highlighting key features of the Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community presented last month by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) to the U.S. Senate Select Committee...
The World Magnetic Model (WMM) was developed to simulate and predict the movement of the Earth’s magnetic poles which diverge from true north and south by approximately 11 degrees. This divergence is constantly changing, however, so navigation and satellite systems rely on the WMM to maintain accuracy. The WMM is...
The Executive Office of the President and the Office of National Drug Control Policy released an updated National Drug Control Strategy (the Strategy)—the first during the Trump presidency. It identifies the president’s priorities for combating illicit drug use in the U.S. and draws upon a 2017 report from the Commission...
The Federal Emergency Management Agency held a workshop at its Higher Education Program National Emergency Training Center in Emmitsburg, Maryland, May 22-23, 2018. The purpose of this workshop was to bring together emergency managers and social scientists to explore the cultural context of emergency preparedness. A lack of cultural understanding...
The U.S. Department of the Treasury released its National Strategy for Combating Terrorist and Other Illicit Financing (Illicit Finance Strategy) describing current government strategies to combat illicit financing of terrorist organizations both domestically and internationally. Transnational criminal organizations, terrorists, and weapons proliferation are the primary drivers of illicit financing activities,...
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services along with the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response (ASPR) created a new emergency preparedness guidance for Healthcare and Public Health (HPH) organizations. The HPH Risk Identification and Site Criticality (RISC) Toolkit provides public and private organizations with “an objective, data-driven all-hazards...
