Since it has earned its independence from the English Empire, the United States of America slowly worked its way to the top of the international arena as the strongest nation in the world. It has managed to survive several major and minor conflicts and while it has found itself threatened by various groups, the United States has remained strong against these odds. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the US became the world’s only superpower and many nations adored the country and saw the US as a protector. However, in recent years, several new threats are starting to cause problems for the rest of the world and it is a question as to which of these threats should the US take into consideration now that it has been proven that the US is also vulnerable to attack after the events of 9/11. Out of the various threats present worldwide, the US must take the issues of terrorism, cyber-attacks and the utilization of nuclear weapons by belligerent countries seriously because these threats have the capacity to bring the country to its knees unless clear and efficient action is done.
The first issue that the US must take into consideration is the issue of terrorism which has managed to take the country down effectively after 9/11. According to Eric Foner in his book “Give me liberty”, terrorism has long been a problem to the United States since 1865 as there were groups fighting for extremist belief within the country and hoped they could instigate the type of change they wish in the US. Although the country has been threatened by these groups, the country did not have clear counter-terrorism laws until the 1990s and eventually, several attacks were done throughout the country. When 9/11 occurred, the US government immediately established several policies that would boost national security and stop the threats in and out of the country . According to the analysis of the think tank group RAND Corporation, not all terrorist groups present a greater threat to the US itself, but there are groups which pose high levels of security threat to the US such as the Al Qaeda, Syria’s Da’ish and the Islamic State. These terrorists, both individual and formal groups, have various ways on how to attack the US homeland. First, they can inspire and encourage US citizens themselves in assisting their efforts through their available publications online such as Dabiq for the Da’ish and Inspire for the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. These terrorists can also send in their foreign operatives inside the US covertly to recruit more members and conduct their attacks without tipping off the authorities. Terrorists also have the capabilities to track and target any aircraft or vessel that comes into the United States to conduct their operations. In 2010, the Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula has managed to pinpoint a cargo plane and almost brought down the plane using paper explosives in the guise of printer cartridges. With the growth of refugees and asylum-seekers due to the problems in the Middle East, some of these refugees or asylum-seekers can be used as a disguise for terrorist operatives to enter the country and conduct attacks once they have been granted refugee status .
The testimony of National Counterterrorism Center Director Nicholas J. Rasmussen supported the analysis of RAND Corporation added to the necessity of looking at the threat of terrorism in the US, especially homegrown terrorists. In his statement, Rasmussen argued that homegrown violent extremists are extremely dangerous because these terrorists have been successful in other parts of the globe such as in France, Canada and even in the US as seen in the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing. Homegrown terrorists which have been inspired by Islamic propaganda brought by al-Qaeda and ISIL can do attacks in rapid succession and hide their support to terrorism due to the anonymity brought by the internet. Although the US has been actively taking out the leaders of terrorist groups worldwide, homegrown terrorists can still gain the appropriate material needed for their attacks and connect to other groups online. As the US and other countries remain unable to identify how appropriate laws can be applied online, these homegrown terrorists would continue to grow and the US Homeland Security would not be able to stop these attacks immediately. It is also difficult for the US government to identify these individuals immediately, especially those who have smuggled into known terrorist bases and returned back to the country, because they could bypass the monitoring done by law enforcers to escape scrutiny .
Another major threat the US should consider is the threat posed by cyber-attacks, especially to critical US infrastructure. In the article of Rosslin Robles, Min-kyu Choi, Eun-suk Cho, Seok-soo Kim, Gil-cheol Park and Jang-Hee Lee, the US currently has 14 major and critical infrastructures that would be vulnerable to human-triggered threats like cyber-attacks and terrorism. Most of the US’ critical infrastructure – specifically telecommunications, energy, transportation and finance - are controlled by computer mechanisms that often regulate its functions and connected to a network that can be accessed online. Any individual or group with the intention to disrupt these infrastructures can easily stop the flow of information through these networks and override the program instructions of these infrastructures. These malicious groups can even leech information, which can be used for other illicit activity. Once these infrastructures are cyber-attacked, it is capable of paralyzing two or more infrastructures completely .
Although the US has enacted several steps to stop the onset of cyber-attacks or cyber-terrorism in the country, it is difficult to determine the actual identities of these individuals and how the attack has been done. According to Peter Grabosky and Michael Stohl, individuals with enough knowledge of the internet and infrastructure mainframes can easily instigate a cyber-attack. Cyber-attacks are also done randomly and their attack style varies depending on the level of security their targets have and which industries they wish to target. Now that the international community, especially the US, is now working on ways to connect most of its industries online, there is a high risk that these frameworks would be attacked by cyber-attacks or terrorism .
Several critical attacks have already paralyzed the US’ major infrastructures as seen in the attacks against JPMorgan Chase & Co. According to the report from Bloomberg News after the attack, the cyber-terrorists have been able to install a virus known as the Heartbleed bug to open the bank’s major databases to obtain the security keys that possess client and employee background and other important data. Gigabytes worth of critical data were stolen from financial institution. Currently, it is uncertain as to who instigated the attack but it is said to be Russians wanting to take revenge from the US who have imposed sanctions to the country due to their involvement in the Ukrainian Crisis . Citigroup has also been attacked in 2011 and according to the reports written in 2011, at least $2.8 million was stole from 3,400 different accounts and at least 360,000 account details were taken by the attackers . Unless nothing is done, the Center for Strategic and International Studies indicated that the US would lose more than $130 billion every year due to cyber-attacks. The country is also likely to spend more funds amounting to $1 billion to stop these attacks from occurring and destabilizing the country’s major infrastructure in the future. Considering that technology continues to change each year, cyber-criminals also change their tactics and find new ways to trigger cyber-attacks .
Finally, the possession of nuclear weapons by belligerent countries like North Korea is a threat the United States cannot disregard. According to Arms Control Association fellow Greg Thielmann, North Korea has been actively developing its nuclear capability since it has separated itself from the South Korea after the Korean War. The country has received assistance from the Soviet Union and China to start their nuclear research and over time, it was able to expand its nuclear infrastructure capability from the 1960s to the present time. It has the capability to mill uranium, create its own nuclear reactors and conduct high-explosive testing of its nuclear weapons. Although there is a persisting nuclear nonproliferation treaty that regulates nuclear development worldwide, North Korea has actively ignored these treaties despite its accession to the NPT in 1985 and agreement to negotiations to stop its nuclear facilities.
In recent years, intelligence reports show that North Korea may have a small stockpile of 10 to 16 nuclear weapons that can be flown in a short and medium range, but this is likely to change in the next few years. North Korea continues to receive aid from China, which gave them an additional 20 nuclear warheads and uranium that would bolster their development. While a clear number of its nuclear capability is uncertain, North Korea’s continuous nuclear testing must be taken seriously. North Korea has been using most of its funds to boost its military capability and it currently has 1,000 missiles which can be shot to South Korea and even nearby US warships. The belligerent country is also on its way to developing small to medium-range Nodong ballistic missiles that can be shot to critical cities such as Washington, D.C. .
The US has proven time and time again that no matter what adversity they have to face in both domestic and international levels; it has the capacity to fight back. The country has the political, economic and military leverage necessary to show their resilience and get back on its feet easily. However, with the growth threats posed by terrorism, cyber-attacks and the growing capacity of belligerent countries utilizing nuclear weapons, there is a possibility that the US may find itself in trouble in keeping up with these threats. Terrorism can spread easily now that terrorist organizations are now utilizing various platforms to reach new operatives and conduct covert operations on their behalf. Cyber-attacks are also a high possibility now that the country’s major infrastructure is connected online and North Korea’s continuous development of its nuclear weapons can devastate countries once it is fully online. The US must immediately target these threats immediately and find a solution because once the country succumbs to any of these three threats, it is likely to find itself unable to fight back.
Works Cited
Center for Strategic and International Studies. The Economic Impact of Cybercrime and Cyber
Espionage. Santa Clara: McAfee, 2013. Print.
Foner, Eric. Give me Liberty: An American History. New York: W. W. Norton & Company,
2011. Print.
Grabosky, Peter and Michael Stohl. Crime and Terrorism. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications,
2010. Print.
Jones, Seth. The Terrorism Threat to the United States and Implications for Refugees.
Washington, D.C.: RAND Office of External Affairs, 2015. Print.
Rasmussen, Nicholas. Current Terrorist Threat to the United States. Briefing Paper.
Washington, D.C.: National Counterterrorism Center, 2015. Print.
Robertson, Jordan and Michael Riley. "JPMorgan, Four Other Banks Hit by Hackers: U.S.
Official." Bloomberg News, 23 April 2016. Web. 3 September 2014 <http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-08-27/customer-data-said-at-risk-for-jpmorgan-and-4-more-banks.html>.
Robles, Rosslin, et al. "Common Threats and Vulnerabilities of Critical Infrastructures."
International Journal of Control and Automation 1.1 (2008): 17-22. Print.
Smith, Aaron. "Citi: Millions stolen in May hack attack."CNN Money, 23 April 2016. Web. 5
September 2014 <http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/27/technology/citi_credit_card/>.
Thielmann, Greg. Understanding the North Korean Nuclear Threat. Threat Assessment Brief.
Washington, D.C.: Arms Control Association, 2015. Print.
