1.) Based on your review of the DHS document Civil defense and homeland security: A short history of preparedness effort, or any other relevant sources from your own research, which presidential administration do you believe did the most to improve or advance civil defense, emergency management or homeland security, and which did the least? What specific measures, programs or policies did they implement, or fail to implement, that helped or hindered civil defense, emergency management, or homeland security? The DHS document’s chronology ended with the Bush administration mid-way through his second term, but you may also consider the Obama and Trump administrations (probably a bit too early to evaluate the Biden administration!). Explain and support your selection with specific examples.
2.) Assume that you are a high-level homeland security advisor for the new president, and that you have been tasked with developing a proposal for him regarding what approach he should take toward defining homeland security, and what type of national homeland security strategy, policies, emphasis and priorities he should endorse. Would you recommend that homeland security should focus exclusively on the threat of terrorism, or on some combination of major issues such as terrorism, border and immigration security, cybersecurity, and or public health preparedness, or should it be genuinely “all-hazards,” including a variety of man-made or natural disasters? What definition of homeland security would you recommend for him? Should the president keep homeland security as a sub-component of a new national security strategy, or should he promulgate a separate national strategy for homeland security as Pres. G.W. Bush did?
