At the time the United States did not have a standing army. Armies mobilized during war and demobilized after wars were over. The idea of domestic security was left to the states and not the military. Military were used for external security threats and not the internal security matters of the state. It was not until the twentieth century that the federal government under the department of Civil Defense was involved in the domestic security of the country. The department of Civil Defense subsequently became Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after 9/11.
2. Explain the relationship between civil liberties and domestic security in the American tradition. (Points : 1)
The United States has been a society that has been based on protecting the individual. The constitution through the first amendment sought to protect the civil liberties of the United States’ citizenry. Civil liberties prevented the federal government from coercing the general public. The presence of standing armies meant that the citizenry would be coerced to pay taxes to sustain the military. Therefore, federal role in domestic security before the twentieth century was seen as an abridgement of civil liberties of the people who were protected by the constitution from paying taxes without their consent.
3. List factors that may have helped prevent the U.S. government from detecting the 9/11 plot. (Points : 1)
The 9/11 was not detected to the complexity that has befallen the concept of securitization. Initially, insecurities have been traditionally between states. However, non-state actors have also become a source of threat to the state. The plotters of 9/11 were non-state actors instead of the traditional state actors. Secondly, the United States and societies in general have linked terrorism to poor people but the people who executed 9/11 were a people in the middle class. Third, it is important to note that airport security was exploited by the plotters of 9/11. At the time, policy entrepreneurs had not seen American airports as an entry point for terrorist non-state actors into the United States. These weaknesses have been greatly improved in recent years with airport security being the most notable.
4. What are three characteristics of al-Qaida’s twenty-fist century terrorist organization? Why are they significant? (Points : 1)
Al-Qaida terrorist organization has many networks that make it difficult to contain as one would do to an enemy nation-state. This terrorist group also uses weapons of dual capability instead of the big weapons of mass destruction that the United States and Russia crafted during the cold war. It is also important to note that the Al-Qaida group has funding from various sources around the world thereby making it possible for the organization to run various activities around the world.
References
Sauter, M., & Sarafano, J. (2005). Homeland Security. A Complete Guide to Understanding, Preventing, And Surviving Terrorism, 144(64), 1-410
